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CjQEfEIGHT DEPOSIT 



THE 

u N E R A L S E R V I C E 

AND OTHER SERVICES. 
SELECTED SCRIPTURE READINGS 

H*ROPRMTELY ARRANGED FOR VARIOUS FUNERAL OCCASIONS. 

f:: Selections from the Poets ; Ritual 
^ for Funeral and Other Services; / 
Record for Funerals, Etc. 

1& . .' • prepared ey . 

REV. S. L. GRACEY. 

Revised and enlarged by Rev. JOSHUA GILL. 



'opyright, 1885, by S. L. Gracej 
opyright, 1895, by Josbiia Gill. 



The Li*k 
of Congress 




THE FUNERAL SERVICE. 



SCRIPTURE READINGS. 



Funeral Service. 



We are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all 
our fathers : our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is 
none abiding. Lord, make me to know my end, and the meas- 
ure of my days, what it is : that I may know how frail I am. 
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house 
appointed for all living. Then shall the dust return to the 
earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave 
it. If a man die, shall he live again? 

Jesus said unto her (Martha), I am the resurrection and the 
life : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall 
he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die. I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand 
at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin 
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : whom 
I shall see for myself, and mine ey'es shall behold, and not an- 
other. My flesh also shall rest in hope; for thou wilt not leave 
my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see 
corruption. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, 
shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 

I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning 
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others 
which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and 
rose again; even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God 
bring with him. Wherefore comfort one another with these 



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FUNERAL SERVICE. 



words. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time 
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be 
revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature 
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the 
creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by rea- 
son of him who hath subjected the same in hope: because the 
creature shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption 
unto the glorious liberty of the children of God. And we our- 
selves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, 
the redemption of our body. For we know that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with 
our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we 
shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle 
do groan, being burdened : not for that we would be unclothed, 
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: 
on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be 
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thou- 
sand years. 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall tribula- 
tion, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 
peril, or sword ? Nay, in all these things we are more than con- 
querors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that 
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from 
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth : Yea, saith 
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works 
do follow them. 

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also 
in me. In my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not 
so, I would have told you : I go to prepare a place for you. 
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 



5 



receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be 
also. 

Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be 
with me where I am; that they may behold my glory. In thy 
presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures 
for evermore. 



Funeral Service. 



What is your life ? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a 
little time, and then vanisheth away. My days are swifter than 
a weaver's shuttle, swifter than a post they flee away. They 
are passed away as the swift ships : as the eagle that hastethto 
the prey. 

There is but a step between me and death. 

TThat man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he 
deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? One dieth in his 
full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. His breasts are 
full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. An- 
other dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with 
pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms 
shall cover them. 

All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto 
dust. 

I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, 
Thou art my mother, and my sister. 

If a man die, shall he live again ? Jesus said unto her (Mar- 
tha), I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in 
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever 
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Though after my 
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : 
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not 
another, Xow is Christ risen from the dead, and become the 
first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, 
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam 



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FUNERAL SERVICE. 



all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every 
man in his own order : Christ the first fruits, afterward they that 
are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall 
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when 
he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. 
For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up ? and 
with what body do they come ? Thou fool, that which thou 
sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou 
sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain; 
it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth 
it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own 
body. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in 
corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it 
is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: 
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. Now this 
I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom 
of God : neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, 
I show you a mystery : We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trump. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible 
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put 
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where 
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death 
is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, 
who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with 
hands, eternal m the heavens. Therefore we are always confi- 
dent, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
absent from the Lord. We are confident, I say, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the 
Lord. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. I am in 
a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 



7 



Christ, which is far better. There the wicked cease from trou- 
bling, and there the weary are at rest. And there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 
any more pain. And there shall be no night there ; and they 
need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God 
giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever. 



Funeral Service. 



As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: 
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. 

No man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit ; nei- 
ther hath he power in the day of death ; and there is no dis- 
charge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that 
are given to it. 

They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the 
multitude of their riches : none of them can by any means re- 
deem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him : that he 
should still live. For wise men die, likewise the fool, and the 
brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. They 
are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; 
they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the 
tops of the ears of corn. 

There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout 
again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. 
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock 
thereof die in the ground: yet through the scent of water it 
will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth 
and waste th away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is 
he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth 
and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the 
heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of 
their sleep. 



s 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 



It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judg- 
ment. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 
that every one may receive the things done in his body, ac- 
cording to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall 
hear his voice and shall come forth ; they that have done good 
unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto 
the resurrection of damnation. 

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for 
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in 
the grave, whither thou goest. 

If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the 
place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. He that is un- 
just, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be 
filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: 
and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 

Behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give 
every man according as his work shall be. 

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten vir- 
gins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride- 
groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with 
them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 
While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. 
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom 
cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, 
and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, 
Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise 
answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and 
you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they 
that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the 
door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 
Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, and said, Yerily I 
say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know 
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. 



FUXERAL SERVICE. 



9 



Funeral Service. 



Man's days are as grass, as a flower of the field so he 
flourisheth; the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the 
place thereof knoweth it no more. 

When he dieth, he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall 
not descend after him; as he came, naked shall he return, and 
shall take nothing of his labor which he may carry away in 
his hand. 

Make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, 
what it is, that I may know how frail I am. 

I know that thou wilt bring me to death, to the house ap- 
pointed for all living. 

There is no discharge in that war. There is an appointed 
time for man upon earth; his days are as the days of an hire- 
ling: his days are determined, the number of his months is 
with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. 
Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. 

All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change 
come: then shall I go the way of all the earth. Though I 
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort 
me. My flesh and my heart faileth, but thou art the strength 
of my heart, and my portion forever. For I know whom I 
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that 
which I have committed unto him against that day. 

Though a man die, yet shall he live again. I am the resur- 
rection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live. I know that my redeemer liveth: and 
though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see 
God. 

It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption : it is 
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, 
it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, it is raised a 
spiritual body. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is 



10 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 



thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of death is 
sin; the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who 
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For now 
is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of 
them that slept. 

The righteous hath hope in his death. Let me die the death 
of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. Precious in the 
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. The day of their 
death is better than that of their birth. For we know that if our 
earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a build- 
ing of God. an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord : Tea, saith the 
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do 
follow them. I (they) shall be satisfied, O Lord, when I (they) 
awake in thy likeness. Then shall he say to them upon his 
right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

In thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand are pleas- 
ures for evermore. There the wicked cease from troubling, 
and the weary are at rest. And they shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, 
nor any heat. The Lamb that is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of 
waters. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former 
things are passed away. I would not live alway. To depart 
and be with Christ is far better. For us to live is Christ, but 
to die is gain. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast 
and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for- 
asmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

TVatch and pray, for ye know not the day nor the hour when 
the Son of man cometh. Be ye also ready. 

The hour is coming when they that are in the graves shall 
hear his voice and come forth; they that have done good to 
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the 
resurrection of damnation. 

O that men were wise, that they would know this, that they 
would consider their latter end. 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



Revelation vn. 9-17. — After this I beheld, and, lo, a great 
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kin- 
dreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and be- 
fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our 
God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And 
all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders 
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and 
worshipped G-od, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wis- 
dom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be 
unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders 
answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in 
white robes ? and whence came they? And I said unto him. 
Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which 
came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and 
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are 
they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in 
his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 
them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the 
Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and 
shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

1 Corixthiaxs xv. — Moreover, brethren, I declare unto 
you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have 
received, and wherein ye stand ; By which also ye are saved, if 
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have 

11 



12 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that 
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins accord- 
ing to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose 
again the third day according to the Scriptures: And that he 
was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; After that, he was 
seen of above five hundred brethren at once: of whom the 
greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen 
asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the 
apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one 
born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that 
am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the 
church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am; and 
his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I 
labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the 
grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were 
I or they, so we preached and so ye believed. Now if Christ 
be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among 
you that there is no resurrection of the dead ? But if there be 
no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if 
Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith 
is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; be- 
cause we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom 
he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the 
dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; And if Christ be not 
raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they 
also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this 
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most mis- 
erable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become 
the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came 
death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as 
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But 
every man in his own order; Christ the first-fruits: afterward 
they that are Christ's at his coming. Than cometh the end, 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the 
Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority 
and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies 
under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



13 



death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when 
he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is 
excepted which did put all things under him. And when all 
things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also him- 
self be subject unto him that put all things under him, that 
God may be all in all. Else what shall they do which are bap- 
tized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they 
then baptized for the dead ? And why stand we in jeopardy 
every hour ? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ 
Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have 
fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the 
dead rise not ? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. Be 
not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 
Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the 
knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. But some 
man will say, How are the dead raised up ? and with what 
body do they come ? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is 
not quickened except it die : And that which thou sowest, thou 
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain; it may 
chance of wheat, or of some other grain; but God giveth it a 
body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 
All flesh is not the same flesh : but there is one kind of flesh of 
men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of 
birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial : 
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the 
terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and 
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for 
one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the 
resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised 
in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it 
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: It is sowm a natural 
body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, 
and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The 
first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was 
made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is 
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which 
is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second 



14 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they 
also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also 
that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the 
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now 
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 
Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we 
shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the 
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal 
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall 
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- 
mortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is 
thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of death 
is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to 
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, un- 
movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foras- 
much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

John xi. 1-47. — Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, 
of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was 
that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped 
his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 
Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he 
whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, 
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that 
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved 
Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard 
therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same 
place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, 
Let us go into Judea again. His disciples say unto him, Mas- 
ter, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou 
thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in 
the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 15 



because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk 
in the night, he stumble th, because there is no light in him. 
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our 
friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of 
sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do 
well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought 
that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said 
Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for 
your sa]ies that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; 
nevertheless, let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which 
is called Didymus, unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, 
that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found 
that he had lain in the grave four days already. (Now Bethany 
was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) And 
many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them 
concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard 
that Jesus was coming, went and met him; but Mary sat still 
in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, If thou hadst 
been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even 
now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha 
saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resur- 
rection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resur- 
rection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth 
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, 
Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, 
which should come into the world. And when she had so said, 
she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, 
The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she 
heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus 
was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where 
Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in 
the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she 
rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth 
unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come 
where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying 



16 



FUXERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews 
also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, 
and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They 
say unto him, Lord, come and see. (Jesus wept.) Then said 
the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, 
Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have 
caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus there- 
fore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a 
cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the 
stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto 
him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead 
four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if 
thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead 
was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I 
thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou 
hearest me always: but because of the people which stand 
by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, 
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, 
bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was 
bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose 
him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to 
Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on 
him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, 
and told them what things Jesus had done. 

2 Corinthians v. — For we know that if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, 
an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in 
this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our 
house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we 
shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle 
do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, 
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of 
life. Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 17 



God, who also liath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we 
are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For 
we walk by faith, not by sight : ) We are confident, I say, and will- 
ing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with 
the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, 
we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before 
the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the 
things done in his body, according to that he hath done, 
whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of 
the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto 
God; and I trust also are made manifest unto your consciences. 
For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you 
occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to 
answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart. For 
whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we 
be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ con- 
straineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, 
then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which 
live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him 
which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth 
know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known 
Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no 
more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea- 
ture: old things are passed away; behold, all things are 
become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled 
us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry 
of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling 
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
them ; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 
beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye recon- 
ciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew 
no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

Romans v. — Therefore being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also 



18 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and 
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we 
glory in tribulations also : knowing that tribulation worketh pa- 
tience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: And 
hope make th not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad 
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when 
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the 
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die : yet 
peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were 
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now 
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through 
him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God 
by the death of his Son; much more, bein, reconciled, we shall 
be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received 
the atonement. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the 
world, and death by sio; and so death passed upon all men, 
for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the 
world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Xever- 
theless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them 
that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgres- 
sion, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as 
the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence, 
of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the 
gift by grace, which is by one man. Jesus Christ, hath abounded 
unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the 
gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the 
free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one 
man's offence death reigned by one: much more they which 
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as by the 
offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, 
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all 
men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobe- 
dience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one 
shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



19 



the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did 
much more abound : That as sin hath reigned unto death, even 
so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life 
by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Isaiah xxv. — O Lord, thou art my God: I will exalt thee, 
I will praise thy name ; for thou hast done wonderful things ; 
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For thou hast 
made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin; a palace of 
strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. Therefore shall 
the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations 
shall fear thee. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a 
strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, 
a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is 
as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise 
of strangers, as the heat in a dry place ; even the heat with the 
shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be 
brought low. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts 
make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines 
on the lues, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the 
lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the 
face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that 
is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory : 
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and 
the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the 
earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that 
day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will 
save us : this is the Lord; we have waited for him, and we will 
be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall 
the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down 
under him even as straw is trodden clown for the dunghill. 
And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he 
that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he 
shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their 
hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he 
bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to 
the dust. 



20 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



Isaiah xxvi. 1-4. — In that day shall this song be sung in 
the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God 
appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the 
righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou 
wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee : 
because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever : for 
in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. 

Psalm xxm. — The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 
He niaketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth me be- 
side the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in 
the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Tea, though I 
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
evil: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort 
me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 
enemies ; thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup runneth over. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my 
life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

Psalm xxvii. — The Lord is my light and my salvation; 
whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of 
whom shall I be afraid ? When the wicked, even mine enemies 
and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and 
fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall 
not fear; though war should arise against me, in this will I be 
confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I 
seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the 
days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to in- 
quire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me 
in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide 
me; he shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head be 
lifted up above mine enemies round about me; therefore will I 
offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will 
sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my 
voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou 
saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, 
Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



21 



servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, 
neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father 
and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. 
Teach me thy way, 0 Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because 
of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine 
enemies; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such 
as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to 
see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on 
the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine 
heart; wait, I say, on the Lord. 

Hebrews xn. — Wherefore seeing we also are compassed 
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every 
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us 
run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto 
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith: who, for the joy 
that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, 
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For 
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against 
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Te have 
not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have 
forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto 
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, 
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord 
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiv- 
eth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with 
sons : for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ? But if 
ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are 
ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers 
of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: 
shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of 
spirits, and live ? For they verily for a few days chastened 
us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might 
be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the pres- 
ent seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless after- 
ward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them 
which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands 



22 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight 
paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the 
way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, 
and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord : Look- 
ing diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any 
root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many 
be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as 
Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye 
know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the 
blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, 
though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come 
unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with 
fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the 
sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they 
that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to 
them any more: (For they could not endure that which was 
commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it 
shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart : And so terrible 
was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: ) 
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living 
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company 
of angels, To the general assembly and church of the first-bom 
which are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, 
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the 
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, 
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye re- 
fuse not him that speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused 
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we 
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven : Whose voice 
then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet 
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And 
this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those 
things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those 
things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we 
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, 
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and 
godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. 



FUNERAL OF A CHRISTIAN. 



23 



Job xiv. — Man that is born of a woman is of few days, 
and full of trouble. He cometli forth like a flower, and is cut 
down : he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And 
dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one and bringest me 
into judgment with thee '? Who can bring a clean thing out of 
an unclean ? not one. Seeing his days are determined, the 
number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his 
bounds that he cannot pass: Turn from him, that he may rest, 
till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. For there is 
hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and 
that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root 
thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the 
ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring 
forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: 
yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? As the waters 
fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So 
man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, 
they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep. O that 
thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep 
me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint 
me a set time, and remember me ! If a man die, shall he live 
again ? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my 
change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou 
wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. For now thou 
numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? My 
trangression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine 
iniquity. And surely the mountain falling cometh to naught, 
and the rock is moved out of his place. The waters wear the 
stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the 
dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. Thou 
i prevailest forever against him, and he passeth: thouchangest 
his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to 
honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low. but 
he perceiveth it not of them. But his flesh upon him shall 
lave pain, and his soul within him shall mourn. 



ARRANGED BIBLE READINGS. 
Funeral of a Christian. 



1 Thessalonians iv. 13-18. — But I would not have you to 
be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye 
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we 
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which 
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto 
you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and 
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them 
which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from 
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the 
trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : Then we 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall 
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another 
with these words. 

1 Corinthians xv. 51-57. — Behold I show you a mystery: 
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, 
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet 
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorrup- 
tion, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this 
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal 
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass 
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 
24 



ARRANGED BIBLE READINGS. 25 



The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. 
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

Romans vm. 37-39. — In all these things we are more than 
conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded 
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us 
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Job xix. 25-27. — For I know that my redeemer liveth, 
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : And 
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my 
flesh shall I see God : Whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
eyes shall behold, and not another. 

2 Cokixthiaxs v. 1-8. — For we know that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a buildting of 
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon 
with our house which is from heaven : If so be that being 
clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this 
tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that we would 
be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be 
swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the 
self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the 
earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, 
knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
absent from the Lord : (For we walk by faith, not by sight : ) 
We are confident. I say, and willing rather to be absent from 
the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

Revelation xiv, 13, — And I heard a voice from heaven 
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the 
Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
rest from their labors ; and their works do follow them. 



26 



ARRANGED BIBLE READINGS. 



Isaiah xxxv. 10. — And the ransomed of the Lord shall 
return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 
their heads ; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow 
and sighing shall flee away. 

Revelation xxii. 4, 5. — And they shall see his face : and 
his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no 
night there ; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; 
for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for 
ever and ever. 

Revelation xxi. 4. — And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for 
the former things are passed away. 

Revelation xxi. 21-27. —And the twelve gates were 
twelve pearls ; every several gate was one pearl ; and the street 
of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And 
I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the 
Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the 
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God 
did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the 
nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it : 
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into 
it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by clay : for 
there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory 
and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise 
enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which are written in 
the Lamb's book of life. 

John xiv. 1-3. — Let not your heart be troubled : ye 
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are 
many mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you. I 
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place 
for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that 
where I am, there ye may be also. 



SELECTED SCRIPTURES. 
Funeral of an Aged Christian. 



Psalm cxvi. 15. — Precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
death of his saints. 

Pro v. x. 7. — The memory of the just is blessed : but the 
name of the wicked shall rot. 

Job v. 26. — Thou shalt come to the grave in a full age, like 
a shock of corn cometh in his season. 

Prov. x. 27. — The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but 
the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 

Psalm xcii. 12-15. — The righteous shall flourish like the 
palm tree : he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that 
be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts 
of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age : they 
shall be fat and flourishing : To show that the Lord is upright : 
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 

Gen. xxv. 7, 8. — And these are the days of the years of Abra- 
ham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen 
years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died iu a good 
old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his 
people. 

Gen. xlix. 28-33. — These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and 
this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them : 

27 



28 FUNERAL OF AN AGED CHRIST! AX. 



every one according to his blessing he blessed them. And he 
charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto 
my people : bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the 
field of Ephron the Hittite : in the cave that is in the field of 
Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, 
which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, 
for a possession of a burying place. (There they buried 
Abraham and Sarah his wife ; there they buried Isaac and Re- 
bekah his wife ; and there I buried Leah.) And when Jacob 
had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his 
feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered 
unto his people. 

1 Chronicles xxix. 28. — And David died in a good old 
age, full of days, riches, and honor. 

2 Timothy iv. 6-8. — I am now ready to be offered, and the 
time of my depature is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth 
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day : and not 
to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

2 Corinthians v. 8. — We are confident, I say, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the 
Lord. 

Revelation xiv. 13.— And I heard a voice from heaven i 
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the I 
Lord from henceforth : Yea, saiththe spirit, that they may rest I 
from their labors ; and their works do follow them. 



SCRIPTURE READINGS. 
Funeral of a Child. 



Luke xviii. 16. — But Jesus called them unto him, and said, 
Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : 
for of such is the kingdom of God. 

2 Samuel xii. 16-23. — David therefore besought God for 
the child ; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night 
upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went 
to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, 
neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on 
the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of 
David feared to tell him that the child was dead : for they said, 
Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and 
he would not hearken unto our voice : how will he then vex 
himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? But when 
David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that 
the child was dead : therefore David said unto his servants, Is 
the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose 
from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself , and changed 
his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and wor- 
shipped : then he came to his own house ; and when he required, 
they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his ser- 
vants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done ? thou 
didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive ; but when 
| the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he 
said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept : for I 

29 



80 



FUNERAL OF A CHILD. 



said, TTho can tell whether God will be gracious to nie, that 
the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I 
fast? can I'bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he 
shall not return to me. 

Jer. xxxi. 15. — A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation 
and bitter weeping : Rachel weeping for her children refused 
to be comforted for her children, because they were not. 

Gen. xxxvu. 30-35. — And Reuben returned unto his breth- 
ren, and said, The child is not : and I, whither shall I go? And 
they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and 
dipped the coat in the blood : And they sent the coat of many 
colors, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have 
we found : know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And 
he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat ; an evil beast hath de- 
voured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And 
Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and 
mourned for his son many da} r s. And all his sons and all his 
daughters rose up to comfort him ; but he refused to be com- 
forted ; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my 
son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 

Gen. xlii. 36. — And Jacob their father said unto them, 
Me have ye bereaved of my children : Joseph is not, and Simeon 
is not, and ye will take Benjamin away ; all these things are 
against me. 

Job i. 21. — The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away : 
blessed be the name of the Lord. 

2 Kings iv. 18-37. — And when the child was grown, it fell on 
a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he 
said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, 
Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and 
brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and 
then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the 



FUNERAL OF A CHILD. 



31 



man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And 
she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, 
one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to 
the man of God. and come again. And he said, Wherefore 
wilt thou go to him to-day'? it is neither new moon, nor sab- 
bath. And she said, It shall be well. Then she saddled an 
ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward ; slack not 
thy riding for me, except I bid thee. So she went and came 
unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, 
when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi 
his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite : Run now. I 
pray thee, to meet her. and say unto her, Is it well with thee? 
is it well with thy husband'? is it well with the child? And 
she answered, It is well. And when she came to the man of 
God to the hill, she caught him by the feet : but Gehazi came 
near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her 
alone ; for her soul is vexed within her : and the Lord hath hid 
it from me, and hath not told me. Then she said. Did I desire 
a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me"? Then he 
said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine 
hand, and go thy way : if thou meet any man. salute him not : 
and if any salute thee, answer him not again : and lay my 
staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child 
said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth. I will not 
leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi 
passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the 
child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore 
he went again to meet him, and told him, saying. The child is 
not awaked. And when Elisha was come into the house, be- 
hold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in 
therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed 
unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and 
put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and 
his hands upon his hands : and he stretched himself upon the 
child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he re- 



A 



32 



FUNERAL OF A CHILL 



turned, and walked in the house to and fro ; and went up, and 
stretched himself upon him; and the child sneezed seven 
times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called GehazL 
and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when 
she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then 
she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the 
ground, and took up her son, and went out. 

Matt, xviii. 10-14. — Take heed that ye despise not one of 
these little ones ; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels 
do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 
Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that 
one of these little ones should perish. 

]uark x. 13-16. — And they brought young children to 
Jesus, that he should touch them ; and his disciples rebuked 
those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was 
much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children 
to come unto me, and forbid them not : for of such is the 
kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall 
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not 
enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands 
upon them, and blessed them. 



SCRIPTURE READINGS. 
General Occasions. 



Psalm xxxix. — I said, I will take heed to my ways, that 
I sin not with my tongue ; I will keep my mouth with a 
bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with 
silence; I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow 
was stirred. My heart was hot within me ; while I was mus- 
ing, the fire burned; then spake I with my tongue, Lord, 
make me to know mine end and the measure of my clays, 
what it is ; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou 
hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age is as 
nothing before thee : verily every man at his best state is alto- 
gether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a vain show ; 
surely they are disquieted in vain : he heapeth up riches, and 
knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what 
wait I for? my hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my trans- 
gressions ; make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was 
dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because thou didst it. Ke- 
move thy stroke away from me : I am consumed by the blow 
of thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man 
for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a 
moth : surely every man is vanity. Hear my prayer, O Lord, 
and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears, for 
I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers 
were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go 
hence, and be no more. 

33 



34 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 



Psalm xc. — Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all 
generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or 
ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from 
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest men 
to destruction: and sayest, Eeturn, ye children of men. For 
a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it 
past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away 
as with a flood : they are as a sleep : in the morning they are 
like grass which groweth up. In the morning it nourisheth, 
and groweth up : in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 
For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we 
troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret 
sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are 
passed away in thy wrath; we spend our years as a tale that is 
told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten ; and 
if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their 
strength labor and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly 
away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even accord- 
ing to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our 
days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Eeturn. O 
Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy ser- 
vants. O satisf}^ us early with thy mercy : that we may re- 
joice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the 
days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we 
have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and 
thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the 
Lord our God be upon us : and establish thou the work of our 
hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. 

Psalm xxxii. — Blessed is he whose transgression is for- 
given, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom 
the Lord hnputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no 
guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my 
roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was 
heavy upon me : my moisture is turned into the drought of 
summer. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 



35 



have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto 
the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this 
shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when 
thou mayest be found : surely in the floods of great waters 
they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding- 
ing-place ; thou shalt preserve me from trouble : thou shalt 
compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct 
thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go : I will 
guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the 
mule, which have no understanding : whose mouth must be 
held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. 
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked : but he that trusteth in 
the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the 
Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous ; and shout for joy, all ye that 
are upright in heart. 

Ecclesiastes xii. — Benieniber now thy Creator in the 
days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the 
years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in 
them; AYhile the sud. or the light, or the moon, or the stars be 
not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain ; In the day 
when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong 
men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they 
are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of 
the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the 
bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low ; 
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears 
shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the 
grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail ; because 
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the 
streets : Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl 
be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the 
wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the 
earth as it was : and the spirit shall return to God who gave 
it. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. And 



36 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 



moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the 
people knowledge; yea. he gave good heed, and sought out. 
and set iu order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find 
out acceptable words : and that which was written was up- 
right, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as 
goads, and as nails fastened by the master of assemblies, 
which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, 
my son, be admonished : of making many books there is no 
end : and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear 
the conclusion of the whole matter : Fear God, and keep his 
commandments : for this is the whole duty of man. For God 
shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, 
whether it be good, or whether it be evil. 

Psalm xxv. — Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O 
my God, I trust in thee : let me not be ashamed, let not mine 
enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be 
ashamed : let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. 
Show me thy ways. O Lord : teach me thy paths. Lead me in 
thy truth, and teach me ; for thou art the God of my salvation ; 
on thee do I wait all the day. Eemember. O Lord, thy tender 
mercies and thy loving-kindnesses ; for they have been ever of 
old. Eemember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgres- 
sions : according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy good- 
ness' sake. 0 Lord. Good and upright is the Lord : therefore 
will he teach sinners in the way. 

Psalm xxxiv. — I will bless the Lord at all times : his 
praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make 
her boast in the Lord ; the humble shall hear thereof, and be 
glad. O magnify the Lord with me. and let us exalt his name 
together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered 
me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were light- 
ened : and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man 
cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his 
troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 37 



that fear him. and delivereth them. O taste and see that the 
Lord is good : blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear 
the Lord, ye his saints : for there is no want to them that fear 
him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger : but they 
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, ye 
children, hearken unto me : I will teach you the fear of the 
Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many 
days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and 
thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good : 
seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the 
righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of 
the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remem- 
brance of them from the earth. The righteous cry. and the 
Lord heareth. and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart : and 
saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions 
of the righteous : but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. 
He keepeth all his bones : not one of them is broken. Evil 
'shall slay the wicked : and they that hate the righteous shall 
be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants : 
and none of them that trust in liim shall be desolate. 

Lamentations hi. 19-66. — Eemembering mine affliction 
and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath 
them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This 1 
recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's 
mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions 
fail not. They are new every morniug : great is thy faithful- 
ness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul: therefore will 
I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him. 
to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should 
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It 
is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He 
sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it 
upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust: if so be there 
may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him : 



38 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 



he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off 
for ever : But though he cause grief, yet will he have compas- 
sion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth 
not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. To crush 
under his feet all the prisoners of the earth. To turn aside the 
right of a man before the face of the most High. To subvert a 
man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. Who is he that 
saith. and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it 
not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil 
and good? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for 
the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, 
and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our 
hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed and 
have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. Thou hast covered 
with anger, and persecuted us : thou hast slain, thou hast not 
pitied. Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our 
prayer should not pass through. Thou hast made us as the 
offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. All our 
enemies have opened their mouths against us. Fear and a 
snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. Mine eye 
runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the 
daughter of my people. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth 
not. without any intermission. Till the Lord look down, and 
behold from heaven. Mine eye afYecteth mine heart because 
of all the daughters of my city. Mine enemies chased me 
sore, like a bird, without cause. They have cut off my life in 
the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over mine 
head : then I said. I am cut off. I called upon thy name. O 
Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice ; 
hide not thine ear at my breathiDg. at my cry. Thou drawest 
near in the day that I called upon thee : thou saidst. Fear not. 
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul : thou hast 
redeemed my life. O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge 
thou my cause. Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all 
their imaginations against me. Thou hast heard then* reproach, 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 



39 



O Lord, and all their imaginations against me; The lips of 
those that rose tip against me. and their device against me all 
the day. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up : I am 
then* mnsic. Render unto them a recompense. O Lord, accord- 
ing to the work of their hands. Give them sorrow of heart, 
thy curse unto them : persecute and destroy them in anger 
from under the heavens of the Lord. 



SELECTED READINGS. 

Heb. ix. 27. — It is appointed unto man once to die. 

Eccl. xn. 7. — Then shall the dust return to the earth as 
it was. and the spirit shall return to God who gave it. 

Job xiv. 1. 2. 10. — Man that is born of a woman is of 
few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, 
and is cut down : he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth 
not. . . . Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea. man giveth up 
the ghost, and where is he? 

Psalm xxxix. 5. — Behold thou hast made my days as an 
handbreadth : and mine age is as nothing before thee : verily 
every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. 

Psalm cm. 15. 16. — As for man. his days are as grass : as a 
flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth 
over it. and it is gone: and the place thereof shall know it no 
more. 

Psalm xc. 5. 6. 9, 10. — Thou earnest them away as with 
a flood : they are as a sleep in the morning : They are like 
grass which groweth up : In the morning it flourisheth and 
groweth up. in the evening it is cut down and withereth. . . . 
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath : we spend our 



A 



40 



GENERAL OCCASIONS. 



years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are three- 
score years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they be four- 
score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow.; for it is 
soon cut off, and we fly away. 

1 Chrox. 15. xxix. — For we are strangers before thee, and 
sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are 
as a shadow, and there is none abiding. 

Prov. xxvii. 1 . — Boast not thyself of to-morrow ; for thou 
knowest not what a day may bring forth. 

Eph. v. 15, 16. — See that ye walk circumspectly, not as 
fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are 
evil. 

Matt. xxv. 13. — Watch therefore, for ye know neither the 
day nor the hour when the Son of man cometh. 

Luke xn. 37-40. — Blessed are those servants, whom the 
Lord when he cometh shall find watching ; verily I say unto 
you, That he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to 
meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come 
in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them 
so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the good- 
man of the house had kno^Yn what hour the thief would come, 
he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be 
broken through. Be ye therefore ready also : for the Son of 
man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 

Eccl. ix. 10. — Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do. do it 
with thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowl- 
edge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. 

Psalm xc. 12. — So teach us to number our days, that we 
may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 



COMFORT FOR THE SOR- 
ROWING, 



John xiv. — Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in 
God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many man- 
sions : if it were not so. I would have told you. I go to pre- 
pare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you. 
I will come again and receive you unto myself: that where I 
am. there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and 
the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not 
whither thou goest : and how can we know the way'? Jesus 
saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no 
man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known 
me, ye should have known my Father also : and from henceforth 
ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him. Lord, 
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, 
Have I been so long time with you. and yet hast thou not 
known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father : 
and how sayest thou then. Show us the Father? Believest 
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? the 
words that I speak unto you. I speak not of myself: but the 
Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me 
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me : or else believe 
me for the very works* sake. Verily, verily. I say unto you. 
He that believeth on me. the works that I do shall he do also : 
and greater works than these shall he do : because I go unto 
my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that 
will I do. that the Father may be glorified in the Sou. If ye 
shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me. 

41 



42 COMFORT FOR THE SORROWING. 



keep my commandments : And 1 will pray the Father, and he 
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you 
for ever ; Even the Spirit of truth : whom the world cannot re- 
ceive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but ye 
know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I 
will not leave you comfortless : I will come to you. Yet a 
little while, and the world seeth me no more : but ye see*me : 
because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know 
that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that 
hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me : and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I 
will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto 
him (not Iscariot) , Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thy- 
self unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and 
said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words : and 
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and 
make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth 
not my sayings : and the word which ye hear is not mine, but 
the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto 
you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is 
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he 
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remem- 
brance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with 
you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth give I 
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and 
come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, be- 
cause I said, I go unto the Father : for my Father is greater 
than I. 



SELECTED SCBIPTUBE HEADINGS. 

Psalm xlvi. 1, 2. — God is our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though 
the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried 
into the midst of the sea. 



COMPORT FOR THE SORROWING. 



43 



Psalm cxxxviii. 7. — Though I walk in the midst of 
trouble, thou wilt revive rne. 

Psalm lv. 22. — Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he 
shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be 
moved. 

Psalm xlii. 11. — Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and 
why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in God : for I 
shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and 
my God. 

Psalm xxiii. 4. — Yea, though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with 
me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Hab. hi. 17, 18. — Although the fig tree shall not blossom, 
neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the olive shall 
fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut 
off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls : Yet 
I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

Job xn. 15. — Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. 

Lam. hi. 31-33. — For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But 
though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according 
to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict will- 
ingly, nor grieve the children of men. 

Job v. 19. —He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in 
seven there shall no evil touch thee. 

ISA. l. 10. — Who is among you that f eareth the Lord, that 
obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and 
hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay 
upon his God. 

Nahum i. 7. — The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of 
, trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 



44 



COMFORT FOR THE SORROWING. 



Psalm cxlv. 14. — The Lord uplioldeth all that fall, and 
raiseth up all those that be bowed down. 

Psalm xxxvn. 24, 39. — Though he fall, he shall not be 
utterly cast down: for the Lord uplioldeth him with his hand. 
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord : he is their 
strength in the time of trouble. 

Isa. xli. 10-14. — Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not 
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will 
help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against 
thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as noth- 
ing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek 
them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with 
thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a 
thing of naught. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right 
hand, saying unto thee, Fear not ; I will help thee. Fear not, 
thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; I will help thee, saith 
the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 

Phil. iv. 0, 7. — Be careful for nothing; but in every thing 
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests 
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which 
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds 
through Christ Jesus. 

James i. 4. — But let patience have her perfect work, that 
ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

2 Coil xii. 9. — My grace is sufficient for thee. 

Psalm cxvi. 1, 6, 7. 12, 13, 14. — I love the Lord, because he 
hath heard my voice and my supplications. I was brought low, 
and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the 
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. What shall I render 
unto the Lord for ail his benefits toward me? I will take the 
cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will 
pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his 
people. 



Afflictions Sanctified. 



I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their 
offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me 
early. If they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of 
affliction : then he showeth them their work, and their trans- 
gressions that they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear 
to discipline, and commancleth that they return from iniquity. 

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will 
refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is 
tried : they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will 
say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. 
When he slew them, then they sought him : and they returned, 
and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God 
was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Blessed is 
the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out 
of thy law: that thou mayest give him rest from the days of 
adversity. 

Before I was afflicted I went astray : but now have I kept thy 
word. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might 
learn thy statutes. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are 
right : and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. My son, 
despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his 
rebukes. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory. We glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation 
worketh patience. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chasten- 
ing, God dealeth with you as with sons : for what son is he 
whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chas- 
tisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and 

45 



i6 



AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED. 



not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh 
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence : shall we not 
much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live ? 
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own 
pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of 
his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to 
be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the 
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised 
thereby. 

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy 
God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble 
thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, 
whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And 
he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee 
with manna, which thou kriewest not, neither did thy fathers 
know : that he might make thee know that man doth not live 
by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of the Lord doth man live. That the trial of your faith, 
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though 
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and 
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 



Afflictions Unsanctified. 



I have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and 
want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned 
unto me, saith the Lord. And I caused it to rain upon one city, 
and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was 
rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 
So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; 
but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, 
saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; 
when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and 
your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: 
yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have sent 
among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt; your 
young men have I slain with the sword; yet have ye not re- 
turned unto me, saith the Lord. Thou hast stricken them, but 
they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them, but they 
have refused to receive correction ; they have made their 
faces harder than a rock ; they have refused to return. The 
people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do 
they seek the Lord of hosts. 

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil- 
doers, children that are corrupters : they have forsaken the Lord, 
they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they 
are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any 
more ? ye will revolt more and more : the whol^ head is sick, 
and the whole heart faint. 

He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall sud- 
denly be destroyed, and that without remedy. 

47 



Support Under Afflictions. 



Thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that 
pass away. Weeping may endure for a night, bnt joy cometh 
in the morning. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall 
sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. 
He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted ; 
neither hath he hid his face from him ; but when he cried unto 
him, he heard. 

God is our refuge and strength : a very present help in 
trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be re- 
moved, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of 
the sea. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and 
thy staff they comfort me. Thou which hast showed me great 
and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me 
up again from the depths of the earth. Though I walk in the 
midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. Though he cause grief, 
yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his 
mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the chil- 
dren of men. O Lord, my strength and my fortress, and my 
refuge in the day of affliction. Trust ye in the Lord for ever 
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. 

God hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon 
his afflicted. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but 
with great mercies will I gather thee. Blessed be God, even the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and 
the God of all comfort ; who comforteth us in all our tribula- 
tion, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any 
4S 



SUPPORT UNDER AFFLICTIONS. 



49 



trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted 
of God. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com- 
forted. He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven 
there shall no evil touch thee. Wait on the Lord : be of good 
courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on 
the Lord. 

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord 
will take me up. Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and 
why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God : for I 
shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and 
my God. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my de- 
liverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, 
and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will be 
glad and rejoice in thy mercy : for thou hast considered my 
trouble : thou hast known my soul in adversities. My flesh 
and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, 
and my portion for ever. 

Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the 
voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light ? 
let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. 
For the Lord will not cast off for ever. I will bear the indigna- 
tion of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he 
plead my cause, and excute judgment for me : he will bring me 
forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. 

The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and 
he knoweth them that trust in him. Although the fig tree 
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labor 
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the 
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd 
in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the 
God of my salvation. 

The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those 
that be bowed down. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly 
cast down : for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. The 
salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength 
in the time of trouble. 



SELECTIONS FROM THE POETS. 



(S^iiclren, 

Another hand is beckoning us, 
Another call is given ; 
And glows once more with angel steps 
The path which reaches heaven. 

Our young and gentle friend, whose smile 
Made brighter summer hours, 
Amid the frosts of autumn time 
Has left us with the flowers. 

The light of her young life went down 
As sinks behind the hill 
The glory of a setting star — 
Clearly, suddenly and still. 

The blessing of her quiet life 
Fell on us like the dew, 

And good thoughts, where her footsteps pressed, 
Like fairy blossoms grew. 

We miss her in the place of prayer, 
And by the hearth fire's light ; 
We pause beside her door to hear 
Once more her sweet " good night,"' 

There seems a shadow on the day. 
Her smile no longer cheers ; 
A dimness on the stars of night 
Like eyes that look through tears. 

Alone unto our Father's will, 
One thought hath reconciled ; 
That he whose love exceedeth ours 
Hath taken home his child. 

Fold her, 0 Father ! in Thine arms, 
And let her henceforth be 
A messenger of love between 
Our human hearts and Thee. 
51 



CHILDREN. 



Still let her mild, rebuking stand 
Between us and the wrong, 
And her dear memory serve to make 
Our faith in goodness strong. 

And grant that she, who, trembling here 
Distrusted all her powers, 
May welcome to her holier home 
The well beloved of ours. 

—J. G. Whittier. 



'Twas at thy door, O friend and not at mine, 
The angel with the Amaranthine wreath, 
Pausing, descended, and with a voice divine 
Whispered a word that had a sound like death, 
Then fell upon the house a sudden gloom, 
A shadow on those features fair and thin. 
And softly from that hushed and darkened room, 
Two angels issued, where but one went in." 

— LongfeKoic. 



His was the morning hour 

And he hath passed in beauty from the day ; 

A bud, not yet a flower. 

Torn in its sweetness from the parent spray : 

The death winds swept him to his soft repose, 

As frost in spring time, blights the early rose. 

We weep, though not in bitterness, 

Ours are not tears of gloom : 

No thoughts but those of tenderness 

Shall glisten round his tomb : 

No painful recollections rise : 

His morn— it dawned so blest, 

And e'er a cloud had dimmed his skies, 

Sweet boy, he was at rest." 



RESIGNATION. 

There is no flock, however watched and tended, 

But one dead lamb is there ; 
There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended. 

But has one vacant chair. 



CHILDREN. 



53 



The air is full of farewells to the dying, 

And mourning for the dead ; 
The heart of Rachel, for her children crying 
Will not be comforted ! 
Let us be patient ! these severe afflictions 

Not from the ground arise ; 
But oftentimes celestial benedictions 
Assume this dark disguise. 

We see but dimly through the mist and vapors ; 

Amid these earthly damps. 
What seems to us but sad funeral tapers, 
May be heaven's distant lamps. 
There is no death ! what seems so, is transition ; 

This life of mortal breath 
Is but the suburb of the life elysian 
Whose portal we call death. 

She is not dead — the child of our affection— 

But gone into that school 
Where she no longer needs our poor protection, 
And Christ himself doth rule. 
In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion, 

By guardian angels led, 
Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution, 
She lives, whom we called dead. 

—Longfellow, 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 

When on my ear your loss was knelled 

And tender sympathy upburst, 
A little rill from memory swelled, 
Which once had smoothed my bitter thirst. 
And I was fain to bear to you 

Some portion of its mild relief ; 
That it might be as healing dew, 
To steal some fever from your grief. 
Alter our child's untroubled breath 

Up to the Father took its way, 
And on our home the shade of death 
Like a long twilight haunting lay, 

And friends came round with us to weep, 

Her little spirit's sweet remove, 
This story of the Alpine sheep 
Was told to us by one we love : 



54 



CHILDREN. 



They in the valley's sheltering cave 

Soon crop the meadow's tender prime, 
And when the sod grows "brown and bare 

The shepherd strives to make them climb- 
To airy shelves of pastures green, 

That hang along the mountain's side, 
Where grass and flowers together lean, 
And down through mists the sunbeams slide. 
But naught can tempt the timid things. 

The steep and rugged path to try. 
Though sweet the shepherd calls and sings. 
And seared below the pastures lie, 
Till in his arms the lamb he takes, 

Along the dizzy verge to go; 
Then heedless of the rifts and breaks 
They follow on o'er rock and snow. 
And in those pastures lifted fair. 

More dewy soft than lowland mead, 
The shepherd drops his tender care. 
And sheep and lambs together feed. 
This parable by nature breathed, 

Blew on me as the south wind free 
O'er frozen brooks, that float, unsheathed 

From icy thraldom to the sea. 
A blissful vision through the night 
"Would all my happy senses sway. 
Of the good shepherd on trie height 

Or climbing up the stony way, 
Holding our little lamb asleep : 

And like the burden of the sea, 
Sounded that voice along the deep 
Saying. "Arise and follow me." 

—Maria TT. Lowell 



THE REAPER, DEATH. 

There is a reaper whose name is Death. 

And with his sickle keen, 
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath 

And the flowers that grow between : 
Sha'l I have nought that is fair? saith he ; 

Have nought but the bearded grain? 
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me. 

I will give them all back again. 



CHILDREN. 



55 



He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, 

He kissed their drooping leaves ; 
It was for the Lord of Paradise 

He bound them in his sheaves. 
My Lord hath need of these flowers gay, 

The reaper said and smiled ; 
Dear tokens of the earth are they 

Where he was once a child. 
They all shall bloom in fields of light, 

Transplanted by my care : 
And saints, upon their garments white 

These sacred blossoms wear. 
And the mother gave in tears and pain, 

The flowers she most did love ; 
She knew she would find them all again, 

In the fields of light above. 

Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath, 

The reaper came that day, 
'Twas an angel visited this green earth 
And took the flowers away." 

—Longfellow. 



NOT LOST. 

Sweet bird of earth's wilderness, rifled and torn, 
Fond eyes have wept o'er thee, fond hearts still mourn, 
The spoiler hath come with his cold withering breath, 
And the loved and the cherished lies silent in death. 
He felt not the burden and heat of the day; 
He hath passed from this earth and its sorrows away. 
With the dew of the morning yet fresh on his brow 
Sweet bud of earth's wilderness, where art thou now? 
And, oh ! do you question with tremulous breath 
Why the joy of your household lies silent in death? 
Do you mourn round the place of your perishing dust? 
Look onward and upward with holier trust. 



OUR ELDEST-BORN. 

Thou bright and starlight spirit, 

That in my vision wild 
I see 'mid heaven's seraphic host, 

Oh ! canst thou be my child ? 



56 



CHILDREN. 



Our hopes of thee were lofty ; 

But have we cause to grieve? 
Oh ! would our proudest, fondest wish 

A nobler fate conceive? 
The little weeper— tearless ; 

The sinner — snatched from sin ; 
The babe— to more than manhood grown 

'Ere childhood did begin. 
Thy brain so misinstructed 

While in this lowly state, 
Now treads the mazy tracks of spheres, 

Or reads the book of fate. 
Thine eye so curbed in vision 

Now range the realms of space, 
Look down upon the rolling stars — 

Look up— in God's own face. 
Thy little hand so helpless, 

That scarce its toys could hold, 
Now clasps its mate in holy prayer 

Or strikes the harp of gold. 

Thy feeble feet unsteady, 

That tottered as they trod, 
With angels walk the heavenly paths 

Or stand before their God. 

What bliss is born of sorrow ! 

'Tis never sent in vain, 
The heavenly surgeon means to sav 

He gives no useless pain. 
Our God, to call us homeward, 

His only Son sent down, 
And now still more to tempt our hearts 

Has taken up our own. 

— Thomas Ward. 



MORE THAN CONQUERORS. 

Beneath the banner of the crucified 
He bravely fought and nobly died ; 

And more than conqueror now, 
All that to victory belong— 
The wreath, the palm, the song- 
Fill his triumphal soul, 
Bind his immortal brow. 



CHILDKEN. 



07 



A CHILD IN HEAVEN. 

Thou, God on high art Love, 
And dost by love's attractions draw our souls, 
Flitting in dusty circuit 'twixt the poles, 

Up to their home above ! 

And though we bear the weight 
Of mortal nature, yet the loved and free 
We follow with strong pinion back to thee, 

And look in at thy gate. 

Loves very grief is gain, 
Thereby earth holier grows and heaven is nigher ; 

Souls that their idols here will not detain, 
Will follow and aspire. 

Xo paths of sense may wile 
The yearning heart. It asks not if the road 

Have laurels to crown or odors to beguile 
But— does it lead to God ? 

Love, purity repose, 
Faith cherished, duty done, and wrong forgiven, 

Be these the garland and the staff of those, 
Who have a child in heaven. 

—London Athen. 



THE EARLY CALLED. 

Called early, ere the summer's glowing heat 
Should prove unfriendly to so frail a flower : 
Or autumn's chilling winds too rudely blow 
Across its garden bed. 

Transplanted now, 
Where kindred flowrets bloom, it lives anew. 
A precious bud, in God's own Paradise. 
'Twas but a tiny flower, sent for awhile, 
A little while, to gladden parents' hearts ; 
Then called away that it might cause their thought 
To upward soar, and win their love from earth 

To Heaven. 

"We gazed with chastened feeling cn 
The Spoilers work. 'Twas but the casket there 
For well we knew the precious gem had gone 
To deck a Saviour's sparkling diadem. 



58 



CHILDREN. 



****** 
Yet, oh ! could we with our poor finite gaze 
But penetrate the misty veil, that hides 
The great unseen and beauteous world beyond ; 
Could we but catch a momentary view 
Of our celestial home ; could we behold 
The glittering crowd of white-robed babes that crowd 
Around the heavenly throne, we could not grieve 
That our beloved were safely anchored there ; 
From every care set tree : Their eyes look love ; 
Seraphic joy beams forth in every smile ; 
A wreath of sparkling gems, each radiant brow 
Entwines; while Heaven's high dome re-echoes back 
Their songs of praise. 

These are the early called, 
These all have been redeemed, thro' grace then called 
From earth away, ere sins polluting breath 
Had marred the beauty of their first estate ; 
And these are they of whom the Saviour spake 
Of such as these my heavenly kingdom is. 



DEATH OF A CHILD. 

II. Samuel, xii., 23 : I. Samuel, hi., 18 : 
Wherefore should I make my moan 

Now the darling child is dead ? 
He to rest is early gone, 

He to Paradise is fled ! 
I shall go to him but he 
Never shall return to me. 
God forbids his longer stay, 

God recalls the precious loan ! 
He hath taken him away, 

From my bosom to his own, 
Surely what he wills is best ; 
Happy in his will I rest. 
Faith cries out, " It is the Lord," 

Let him do what seems him good, 
Be thy holy name adored, 

Take the gift awhile bestowed ; 
Tak.e the child no longer mine ; 
Thine he is forever thine. 

—Charles Wesley 



eneral, 



OVER THE RIVER. 

Over the river they beckon to me — 

Loved ones who've crossed to the further side ; 
The gleam of their snowy robes I see, 

But their voices are drowned in the rushing tide, 
There's one with ringlets of sunny gold, 

And eyes the reflection of heaven's own blue ; 
He crossed in the twilight, gray and cold, 

And the pale mist laid firm from mortal view. 
We saw not the angels who met him there ; 

The gates of the city we could not see ; 
Over the river, over the river, 

My brother stands waiting to welcome me. 

Over the river the boatman pale 
Carried another— the household pet : 

Her brown curls waved in the gentle gale- 
Darling Minnie ! I see her yet. 

She crossed on her bossom her dimpled hands, 
And fearlessly entered the phantom bark ; 

We watched it glide from the silver sands, 
And all our sunshine grew strangely dark, 

We know she is safe on the further side 
Where all the ransomed and angels be; 

Over the river, the mystic river 
My childhood's idol is waiting for me. 

For none return from those quiet shores, 

Who cross with the boatman cold and pale ; 
We hear the dip of the golden oars, . 

And catch the gleam of the sunny sail,— 
And lo ! they have passed from our yearning heart, 

They cross the stream and are gone for aye. 
We may not sunder the veil apart, 

That hides from our vision the gates of day. 
We only know that their barks no more, 

May sail with us o'er life's stormy sea ; 
Yet somewhere, I know, on the unseen shore, 

They watch and beckon and wait for me. 
59 



A 



60 



GENERAL. 



And I sit and think, when the sunset's gold 

Is flushing river, and hill, and shore, 
I shall one day stand by the water cold 

And list for the sound of the boatman's oar : 
I shall watch for a gleam of the flapping sail ; 

I shall hear the boat as it gains the strand ; 
I shall pass from sight with the boatman pale, 

To the better shore of the spirit land : 
I shall know the loved who have gone before, — 

And joyfully sweet will the meeting be, 
Wncn over the river, the peaceful river, 

The angel of death shall carry me. 

—Mrs. Priest, 



NOT LOST, BUT GONE BEFORE. 

Say, why should friendship grieve for those 

Who safe arrive on Canaan's shore? 
Released from all their hurtful foes 

They are not lost, but gone before. 

How many painful days on earth 

Their fainting spirits numbered o'er ! 
Now they enjoy a heavenly birth 

They are not lost, but gone before. 

Dear is the spot where Christians sleep, 

And sweet the strain which angels pour, 
O why should we in anguish weep ? 

They are not lost, but gone before. 

Secure from every mortal care 

By sin and sorrow vexed no more, 
Eternal happiness they share, 

Who are not lost, but gone before. 

To Zion's peaceful courts above 

In faith triumphant may we soar, 
Embracing in the arms of love 

The friends not lost, but gone before. 

To Jordan's banks whene'er we come, 

And hear the swelling water's roar, 
Father convey us safely home. 

To friends not lost, but gone before. 

— Unknoioi 



GENERAL. 



61 



TRUST GOD. 

I know not the way I am going, 

Bnt well do I know my guide, 
With a childlike trust do I give my hand, 

To the mighty Friend by my side. 
And the only thing that I say to him. 

As he takes it, is, Hold it fast ; 
Suffer me not to lose my way, 

And lead me home at last. 

As when some helpless wanderer 

Alone in some unknown land, 
Tells the guide his destined place of rest 

And leaves all else in his hands. 
'Tis home, 'tis home that I wish to reach 

He who guides me may choose the way ; 
And little I care what path I take 

When nearer my home each day. 



ON THE APPROACH OF DEATH. 

That awful, that tremendous day 
Its coming who may tell? For as a thief- 
Unheard, unseen it steals with silent pace, 
Through night's dark gloom ; Perhaps as here I sit 
And rudely carol these recondite lays, 
Soon shall the hand he checked and dumb the mouth 
That lisps the faltering strain. O may it ne'er 
Intrude unwelcome on an ill-spent hour ; 
But find me wrapt in meditations high 
Hymning my great Creator's praise. 

— IT'. Hodgson. 



AFFLICTION— GOD'S MESSENGER. 

Count each affliction, whether light or grave. 
God's messenger sent down to thee. Do thou 
With courtesy receive him :— grief should be 
Like joy, majestic, equable. sedate- 
Confirming, cleansing, raising, making free ; 
Strong to consume small troubles ; to commend 
Great thoughts— grave thoughts— thoughts lasting to the end 

—Aubrey De Fere. 



GENERAL. 



BOW THYSELF TO LEARN THE ALPHABET 
OF TEARS. 

God alone 

Instmcteth how to mourn, He doth not trust 
This higher lesson to a voice or hand 
Subordinate. Behold ! He cometh forth 
O sad disciple —how thyself to learn 
The alphabet of tears. 

— Mrs. Sigourney. 



God's dealings still are love : his chastenings are alone 
Love now compelled to take an altered sterner tone. 

— Archbishop French. 



LITTLE CHILDREN KEEP YOURSELVES 

FROM IDOLS. 

I. John, v., 21. 
Oh ! we hear but cannot promise 
We will keep our idols from us— 
Cling they closely, like the folding 
Arms of love, their pleasure holding; 
And like clocks the hours repeating 
Set their hearts by our hearts beating ; 
Oh ! we cannot break their clinging 
Neither turn away their singing. 

* * * * * 
Earth, oh! earth! thou'st nothing highei 
Than two pure heart's mingled fire, 
Reaching up to God's strong loving, 
And by His, their own strength proving. 

These are Idols, ah ! we feel it — 
(If a heart bleed, God will heal it . 
He will smite them if we hold them. 
He will curse them if we fold them 
'Tween Him and our spirit's sunlight ; 
If we make not Him our One-light— 
God we falter through our weeping: 
We will yield them to Thy keeping : 
And let angels weave the story 
How Thou'lt use us for Thy glory. 

— Ada Auguszi, Gott. 



GENERAL. 



03 



THE MORN OF JOY. 

A little while of mingled, joy and sorrow, 

A few more years to wander here below, 
To wait the dawning of that golden morrow 

Wnere morn shall break above our night of woe. 

A few more thorns aronnd our pathway growing 
Ere yet our hands may cull the heavenly flowers i 

The morn of joy, but first the tearful sowing 
Ere we may rest these heavenly souls of ours. 

A few more hours of weariness and sighing 

Of mourning o'er the power of inner sin, 
A little while of daily crucifying, 

Unto this world and evil heart within. 

A little longer in this vale of weeping, 

Of yearning for the sinless home above , 
A little while of watching and of keeping 

Our garments by the power of Him we love. 

A little while, and we shall dwell forever 

Within our bright, our everlasting home, 
Where time, or space, or death, no more can sever 

Our grief-wrung hearts— and pain can never come. 

'Tis but a little while — the way is dreary. 

The night is dark, but we are nearing land ! 
O for the rest of heaven ! for we are weary, 

And long to mingle with the deathless band. 

— Rev. J. C. Eyle. 



GOLDEN FRUIT HIDDEN IN SORROW'S HUSK. 

I ask 

What He would have this sorrow do for me ? 
What is its mission ?— what its misery ? 
What golden fruit lies hidden in its husk? 
How shall it nurse my virtue, nerve and will, 
Chasten my passion, purify my love. 
And make me in some goodly sense like Him 
Who bore the cross of evil while he lived, 
Who hung and bled upon it when He died, 
And now in glory wears the victor's crown ! " 

—J. G. Holland. 



GENERAL. 



ON TRUST. 

Thy God hath said, 'tis good for thee 

To walk by faith, and not by sight, 
Take it on trust a little while ; 

Soon shalt thou read the mystery right, 
In the bright sunshine of His smile. 

— Rev. John Keble. 



MANTLES OF THE DEAD. 

From the eternal shadow rounding 

All unseen and starlight there, 
Voices of our lost ones sounding, 

Bid us be of heart and cheer. 

Through the silence, down the spaces, 
inward ear. 
Know we not our dead are looking 

Downward as in sad surprise, 
All our strife of words rebuking 

With their mild and earnest eyes? 
Shall we grieve the holy angels; shall we 

Cloud their blessed skies ? 
Let us draw their mantles o'er us 

Which have fallen in our way ; 
Let us do the work before us 

Calmly, bravely, while we may, 
Ere the long night silence cometh, 

And with us it is not day. 



DEATH A STREAM. 

There is a stream whose narrow tide 
The known and unknown worlds divide 

Where all must go- 
Its waveless waters, dark and deep 
'Mid sullen silence downward sweep 

With noiseless flow. 

— Unknown. 

There is healing in the bitter cup. 

— Sonthey. 



falling on the 



— Whittier. 



GENERAL. 



bo 



Are afflictions aught 
But mercies in disguise— the alternate cup. 
Medicinal though bitter, and prepared 
By love's own hand for salutary ends. 

—David Mallet. 



LET ME ON THY LOVE REPOSE. 

When afflictions cloud my sky 

When the tide of sorrow flows, 
When Thy rod is lifted high, 

Let me on Thy love repose- 
Stay the rough wind 

When Thy chilling east wind blows. 

When the vale of death appears — 

Faint and cold this mortal clay- 
Kind Forerunner, soothe my fears, 

Light me through the darksome way,— 
Break the shadows, 

Usher in eternal day. 

— Jane Taylor 

THE HEAVENLY SCULPTOR. 

Shrink not from sufferings. Each dear blow 

From which thy smitten spirit bleeds 
Is but a messenger to show 

The renovation which it needs. 

The earthly sculptor smites the rock ; 

Loud the relentless hammer rings ; 
And from the rude unshapen block 

At length imprisoned beauty brings. 

Thou art the rude unshapen stone, 

And waitest till the arm of strife 
Shall make its crucifixion known, 

And-smite and carve them into life. 

The heavenly sculptor works on thee ; 

Be patient. Soon His arm of might 
Shall from thy prison's darkness free 

And change thee to a form of light. 

— Thomas C. Upham. 



66 



GENERAL. 



AFFLICTIONS UNIVERSAL. 

Wherever love hath trodden— there 

Affliction comes, a kindred power. 

So twines the weed around the flower. 
So poison taints the odorous air ; 
It is the charter ot our birth, 

That hope and joy with fleeting smile 

Should bless our pilgrimage awhile ; 
But find no resting on earth ; 
Each is alike withheld or given 
To fit us for their home — their heaven. 

— Canon Pale. 



O LORD, ABIDE WITH ME. 

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide : 
The darkness thickens— Lord, with me abide. 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee. 
Help of the helpless. 0 abide with me. 

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day : 
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away ; 
ChaDge and decay in all around I see : 

0 thou who changest not, abide with me. 

Come not in terrors as the King of Kings, 
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings 
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea ; 
Come Friend of sinners, thus abide with me. 

1 need thy presence every passing hour — 

What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power ? 
Who like thyself my guide and stay can be ? 
Through cloud and sunshine. O abide with me. 

I have no foe, with thee at hand to bless— 
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness ; 
Where is Death's sting? where Grave thy victory? 
I triumph still if Thou abide with me. 

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes ; 
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies; 
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee : 
In life, in death, 0 Lord, abide with me. 

—Rev. H. F. Lyte. 



GENERAL. 



67 



Just Heaven but tries our virtues by affliction ; 
And oft the cloud which wraps the present hour 
Serves but to brighten all our future days. 

—Miss M. A. Browne. 

IN GOD'S FURNACE. 

He that from the dross would win the precious ore, 

Bends o'er the crucible an earnest eye, 
The subtle, searching process to explore 

Lest the one brilliant moment should pass by, 
When in the molten silver's virgin mass, 
He meets his pictured face as in a glass. 

Thus in God's furnace are His children tried ; 

Thrice happy they who to the end endure ! 
But who the fiery trial may abide ? 

Who from the crucible come forth so pure 
That He, whose eyes of flame look through the whole, 
May see his image perfect in the soul ? 

Not with an evanescent glimpse alone, 

As in the mirror the refiner's face, 
But stamped with heaven's broad signet, there be shown, 

Immanuel's features full of truth and grace,— 
And round that seal of love this motto be, 
" Not for a moment, but eternity." 

—James Montgomery 



Say, what is prayer when it is prayer indeed ? 
The mighty utterance of a mighty need. 
The man is praying, who doth press with might 
Out of his darkness into God's own light. 

—Archbishop French. 



NOT KNOWING. 

I know not what may befall me, 
God hangs a mist o'er my eyes ; 

And o'er each step of my onward path 
He makes new scenes to rise, 

And every joy he sends me, comes 
As a sweet and glad surprise. 



68 



GENEKAL. 



I see not a step before me, 
As I tread the days of the year, 

But, the past is still in God's keeping 
The future His mercy shall clear, 

And what looks dark in the distance 
May brighten as I draw near. 

For perhaps the dreaded future 
Has less bitter than I think ; 

The Lord may sweeten the water 
Before I stoop to drink ; 

Or if Marah must be Marah 
He will stand beside its brink. 

It may be He has waiting 

For the coming of my feet, 
Some gift of such rare blessedness, 

Some joy so strangely sweet, 
That my lips can only tremble 

With the thanks I cannot speak. 

Oh ! restful, blissful ignorance 

'Tis blessed not to know; 
It keeps me quiet in those arms 

Which will not let me go, 
And hushes my soul to sleep 

On the bosom which loves me so. 

So I go on, not knowing ! 

I would not if I might ; 
I had rather walk in the dark with God 

Than go alone in the light ; 
I would rather walk with Him by faith 

Than go alone by sight. 

My heart shrinks back from trials 
Which the future may disclose, 

Yet I never had a sorrow but what 
The dear Lord chose, 

So I send the coming tears back, 

With the whispered words : 
" He knows." 



My right hand hath Thine immortality 
In an eternal grasping. 

~—Mrs. Browning. 



GENERAL. 



Gone to begin a new, a happier story, 
Thy bitter tale of earth now told and done ; 

These onter shadows for that inner glory 
Exchanged forever — O thrice blessed one. 

O freed from fetters of this lonesome prison ! 

How I shall greet thee in that day of days, 
When he who died, yea rather who is risen 

snail these frail frames from dust and darkness raise ! 

—Hor alius Bonar. 



RECOGNITION. 

I count the hope no day-dream of the mind, 

No vision fair of transitory hue, 

The souls of those, whom once on earth we knew, 
Aud loved and walked with in communion kind 
Departed hence, again in heaven to find 

Such hope to nature's sympathies is true : 

And such, we deem, the holy word to view 
Unfolds; an antidote for grief designed. 

—Bishop Mant. 



THE DEAD— BLESSED. 

O safe at home where the dark tempter roams not ! 
How I have envied thy far happier lot; 
Already resting where the evil comes not 
The tear, the toil, the woe, the sin forgot. 

O safe in port where the rough billow breaks not, 
Where the wild sea-moan saddens thee no more ! 
Where the remorseless stroke of tempest shakes not, 
When, when shall I too gain that tranquil shore? 

0 bright, amid the brightness all eternal ! 
When shall I breathe with thee the purer air? 
Air of a land, whose chime is ever vernal, 
A land without a serpent or a snare. 

Away, above the scenes of guilt and folly, 
Beyond this desert's heat and dreariness, 
Safe in the city of the ever-holy 
Let me make haste to j oin thy earlier bliss. 



70 



GENERAL. 



Another battle fought, and oh ! not lost ! 
Tells of the ending of this night and thrall, 
Another ridge time's lone moorland crossed. 
Gives nearer prospect of the jasper walls. 

Just gone within the veil, where I shall follow 
Not before me hardly out of sight. 
I, down beneath thee in this cloudy hollow 
And thou far up on yonder sunny height. 



GRIEF— A MEDICINE. 

Grief is itself a medicine, and bestowed 
To improve the fortitude that bears the load ; 
To teach the wanderer, as his woes increase. 
The path of wisdom, all whose paths are peace ! 

— Cou-per. 



Give sorrow words : the grief that does not speak 
Whispers the o'er fraught heart, and bids it break. 

— Shakspeare. 



FAIR SPIRIT! REST. 

Calm on the bosom of thy God, 

Fair spirit! rest thee now ! 
E'en while with ours thy footsteps trod 

His seal was on thy brow. 

Dust, to its narrow house beneath ! 

Soul, to its place on high ! 
They that have seen thy look in death 

No more may fear to die. 

— Mrs. Hsmens 



RICH WITH GOD. 

Thou art the source and center of all minds, 
Their only point of rest, eternal word ! 
From Thee is all that soothes the life of man. 
His high endeavor and his glad success, 
His strength to suffer and his will to serve. 



GENERAL. 



71 



But oh ! Thou bouuteous giver of all good, 
Thou art of all Thy gifts Thyself the crown ! 
Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor ; 
And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away. 

— Cowper. 



A HYMN OF TRUST. 

" Xo good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." 

—Psalm lxxxiv. 11. 
Grief's storm-tossed seas around me roar, 
I cannot grasp th' encircling shore ; 
Home's beck'ning light I strive to see. 
And yet. I know, there's help for me— 
There's help for me. 

Life's May-day flowers have dropped their bloom; 
My hopes lie faded in their tomb ; 
No sunbeam gilds earth's wintry lea. 
And yet, I know, there's joy for me— 
There's joy for me. 

I wander 'mid my woes alone, 
I bear each burden, make my moan, 
As 'reft as autumn's wind-swept tree ; 
And yet, I know, there's love for me— 
There's love for me. 

Christ lends His aid. beyond compare, 
Bestows His joys that angels share : 
He showers His love, abundant, free, 
And these, I know, are all for me— 
Yes, all for me. 

" Look up." He whispers o'er the deep ; 
" Mine own I will in safety keep : 
And if thou'lt trust Me, ne'er thou'lt see 
One needful good withheld from thee." 

All this for me ! 

I'll serve Thee, trust Thee, day by clay; 
Though dark and lonely be my way, 
Thy love I'll claim ; when wounded flee 
For Thy blest wings to shelter me. 

All, all for me ! 
—Mrs. Annie E. Thompson, widow of Bishop Thompson. 



72 



GENERAL. 



REST. 

Rest, weary soul ! 
Thy penalty is born, thy ransom paid, 
For all thy sins full satisfaction made ; 
Strive not to do thyself what Christ has done, 
Claim the free gift and make the joy thine own. 
No more by pangs of guilt or fear distrest, 

Rest, sweetly rest. 

Rest weary heart, 
From all thy silent griefs and secret pain, 
Thy profitless regrets and longings vain ! 
Wisdom and love have ordered all the past. 
All shall be blessedness and light at last. 
Cast off the cares that have so long opprest, 

Rest, sweetly rest. 

Rest, weary head ! 
Lie down to slumber in the peaceful tomb, 
Light from above has broken through its gloom ; 
Here in the place where once thy Saviour lay. 
Where he shall wake thee on a future day, 
Like a tired child on its mother's breast, 

Rest, sweetly rest. 

Rest, spirit free ! 
In the green pastures of the heavenly shore, 
Where sin and sorrow can approach no more, 
With all the flock by the Good Shepherd fed. 
Beside the streams of life eternal led, 
Forever with thy God and Saviour blest, 

Rest, sweetly rest. 

— Unknown. 



NEARER HOME. 

One sweetly solemn thought 
Comes to me o'er and o'er, 
I am nearer my home to-day 
Than I ever have been before. 
Nearer my Father's house 
Where the many mansions be, 
Nearer the great white throne ; 
Nearer the crystal sea. 



GENERAL. 



73 



Nearer the bound of life, 
Where we lay our burdens down. 
Nearer leaving the cross 
Nearer gaining the crown. 

But lying darkly between 

Winding down through the ni c -ht 

Is the deep and unknown stream 

That leads at last to the light. 
Father, perfect my trust, 
Strengthen the might of my faith ; 
Let me feel as I would when I stand 
On the rock of the shore of death ; 

Feel as I would when my feet 

Are slipping o'er the brink ; 

For it may be I'm nearer home, 

Nearer now than I think. 

—Phoebe Cary. 



HEAVEN, OUR HOME. 

No sickness there, 

No weary wasting of the frame away, 
No fearful shrinking from the midnight air, 

No dread of summer's bright and ferved ray. 

No hidden grief, 

No wild and cheerloss vision of despair, 
No vain petition for a swift relief, 

No tearful eyes, no broken hearts are there. 

Care has no home 

Within that realm of ceaseless praise and song, 
Its tossing billows break and melt in foam 

Far from the mansions of the spirit throng. 

The storm's black wing 

Is never spread athwart celestial skies, 
Its wailings blend not with the voice of spring 

As some poor tender floweret fades and dies. 

No night distills 

Its chilling dews upon the tender frame, 
No morn is needed there ; the light which fills 
" That land of glory from its Maker came. 



74 



GENERAL. 



Xo parting friends 

O'er mournful recollections have to weep ; 
No bed of death enduring love attends 

To watch the coming of a pulseless sleep. 

No blasted flowers 

Or withered buds, celestial gardens know 
No scorching blast, no fierce descending shower 

Scatters destruction like a ruthless foe. 

Let us depart. 

If home like this await the weary soul, 
Look up thou stricken one ; thy wounded heart 

Shall bleed no more at sorrow's stern control. 

With Faith our guide, 

White robed and innocent, to tread the way, 
W T hy fear to plunge in Jordan's rolling tide 

And find the heaven of eternal day. 

— A. 1. Barnaid. 



THE REDEEMED IN HEAVEN. 

Lo ! round the throne a glorious band 
The saints in countless myriads stand ; 
Of every tongue redeemed to God 
Arrayed in garments washed in blood. 

Through tribulations great they came, 
But bore the cross, despised the shame, 
But now from all their labors rest, 
In God's eternal glory blest. 

They see the Saviour face to face, 
They sing the triumphs of his grace ; 
And day and night with ceaseless praise 
To him their loud hosannas raise. 

O may we tread the sacred road 
That holy saints and martyrs trod, 
Wage to the end the glorious strife 
And win like them a crown of life ! 



— Mary L. Duncan. 



GENERAL. 



75 



LIVE TO CHRIST. 

Ye faithful souls who Jesus know, 

If risen indeed with him ye are, 
Superior to the joys below 

His resurrection power declare. 

Your faith by holy tempers prove 

By actions show your sins forgiven. 
And seek the glorious things above 

And follow Christ your head to heaven. 

Your real life with Christ concealed 

Deep in the Father's bosom lies ; 
And glorious as your Head revealed 

Ye soon shall meet Him in the skies. 

— C. Wesley. 



BEYOND THE SMILING AND THE WEEPING. 

Beyond the smiling and the weeping 

I shall be soon, 
Beyond the waking and the sleeping 
Beyond the sowing and the reaping 

I shall be soon. 
Love, rest and home— 
Sweet, sweet home ; 
Oh ! how sweet it will be there to meet 
My dear ones all at home. 

Beyond the blowing and the fading 

I shall be soon, 
Beyond the shining and the shading 
Beyond the hoping and the dreading 

I shall be soon. 
Love, rest and home, etc. 

Beyond the rising and the setting 

I shall be soon. 
Beyond the calming and the fretting 
Beyond remembering and forgetting 

I shall be soon. 
Love, rest and home, etc. 

Beyond the gathering and the strowing 

I shall be soon, 
Beyond the ebbing and the flowing 



76 



GENERAL. 



Beyond the coming and the going 

I shall be soon. 
Love, rest and home — 
Sweet, sweet home: 
Sweet hope, tarry not but come 

Beyond the parting and the meeting 

I shall be soon, 
Beyond the farewell and the greeting 
Beyond the pulses' fever beating 

I shall be soon. 
Love, rest and home- 
Sweet, sweet home : 
Lord tarry not, but come. 

Beyond the frost chain and the fever 

I shall be soon, 
Beyond the rock, waste and the river 
Beyond the ever and the never 

I shall be soon. 
Love, rest and home — 
Sweet, sweet home ; 
Lord tarry not, but come. 

Bonar. 



RESURRECTION. 

Shall I be left abandoned in the dust 

When, fate relenting, lets the flower revive? 

Shall nature's voice, to man alone unjust, 

Deny him, doomed to perish : hope to live? 

Is it for this fair virtue oft must strive 

With disappointment, penury and pain? 

No ; heaven's immortal spring shall yet arrive 

And man's majestic beauty bloom again 

Bright through the eternal years of love's triumphant reign. 

— Beattie. * 



Then we into new existence spring, 
Freed from the fetters of this cumbering clay, 

From the dim portals of the silent tomb, 
We shall triumphant rise and soar away, 

Leaving the darkness of tnat land of gloom 
For the bright sunshine of an endless day. 



GENERAL. 



RE-UNION. 

If death my friend and me divide 
Thou dost not, L^rd, my sorrow chide, 

Or frown my tears to see ; 
Re strained from passionate excess, 
Thou biddest me mourn in calm distress 

For them that rest in thee. 

I feel a strong immortal hope. 
Which bears my mournful spirit up 

Beneath its mountain load : 
Redeemed from death and grief and pain, 
I soon shall find my friend again 

Within the arms of God. 

Pa c s a few fleeting moments more 
And death the blessing shall restore 

Which death has snatched away ; 
For me thou wilt the summons send. 
And give me back my parted friend 

In that eternal day. 



The cross ! it takes my guilt away ; 

It holds the fainting spirit up : 
It cheers with hope the gloomy day, 

And sweetens every bitter cup. 
It makes the coward spirit brave. 

And nerves the feeble arm for fight ; 
It takes its terror from the grave, 

And gilds the bed of death with light. 



BE STILL. 

Peace ! be still ! 
In the night of sorrow low ; 
O my heart, content not thou ! 
What befalls is God's will 
Peace ! be still. 

Peace ! be still! 

All thy murmuring words are vain. 
God will make the riddle plain : 
Wait his word, and bear his will— 



GENERAL. 



Hold thee still ! 

Though the Father scourge thee sore ; 
Cling thou to him all the more : 
Let him Mercy's work fulfil ! 
Hold thee still. 
Hold thee still ! 

Though the Good Physician's knife 
Seem to touch thy very life, 
Death alone he means to kill- 
Hold thee still. 
Lord, my God ! 
Give me grace that I may be 
Thy true child, and silently 
Own thy septre and thy rod, 
Lord, my God. 
Shepherd mine ! 
From thy fulness give me still 
Faith to do and bear thy will, 
Till the morning light shall shine- 
Shepherd mine. 



LONGFELLOW'S FINEST SONNET, 

As a fond mother, when the day is o'er, 

Leads by the hand her little child to bed, 

Half willing, half reluctant to be led, 
And leaves his broken playthings on the floor, 
Still gazing at them through the open door, 

Nor wholly reassured and comforted 

By promises of others in their stead, 
Which, though more splendid, may not please him more ; 
So Nature deals with us. and takes away 

Our playthings one by one, and by the hand 

Leads us to rest so gently that we go 
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay, 

Being too full of sleep to understand 

How far the unknown transcends the what we know. 



Death is a black camel, 
Which kneels at the gates ot all. 



~A fo-E l-Ka dev. 



GENERAL. 



79 



Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark. 

—Bacon. 



The death change comes. 
Death is another life. We bow our heads, 
At going out, we think, and enter straight 
Another golden chamber of the King's 
Larger than this we leave, and lovelier. 
And then in shadowy glimpses, disconnect, 
The story, flower-like, closes thus its leaves. 
The will of God is all in all. He makes, 
Destroys, re-makes, for his own pleasure all. 

— Bailey. 



On the cold cheek of Death, smiles and roses are blending, 
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb. 

—Jas. Beattie, 



The ancients feared death ; 

The Christian can only dread dying. 



The world will turn when we are earth, 

As though we had not come nor gone : 
There was no lack before our birth, 

When we are gone there will be none. 

— Omar Khayya m-Friederick. 



One short sleep past, we wake eternally, 

And death shall be no more ! Death, thou shalt die. 

—Donne. 



I have been dying for years, now I shall begin to live. 

— Last words of Jas. D. Bums. 



How shocking must thy summons be, O Death ; 
To him that is at ease in his possessions ; 
Who, counting on long years of pleasure here, 
Is quite unfurnished for that world to come. 

—Blair. 



80 



GENERAL. 



There is nothing terrible in death ; 

'Tis but to cast our robes away, 
And sleep at night without a breath 

To break repose till dawn of day. 



-Montgomery. 



Two hands upon the breast 

And labor's done ; 
Two pale feet crossed in rest 

The race is won. 



—Mulock. 



Within the hollow crown. 
That rounds the mortal temples of a King, 
Keeps death his court ; and there the antic sits, 
Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp. 

—Richard III. 



God's finger touched him and he slept, 

— Tennyson. 



I hear a voice you cannot hear, 
Which says I must not stay ; 

I see a hand you cannot see, 
Which beckons me away. 



A death-bed's a detector of the heart. 



— Tiehell. 



- Ydwng. 



The chamber where the good man meets his fate, 

Is privileged bej^ond the common walk 

Of virtuous life, quite in the verge of heaven. 

— Young. 



We see but dimly through the mists and vapours 

Amid these earthly damps, 
What seem to us but sad funeral tapers 

Are heaven's distant lamps. 

— Longjelloir. 



GENERAL. 



81 



Earth may be darkness ! Heaven will give thee light. 

— Neal. 



Live while you live the epicure will say, 
And take the pleasure of the present day ! 
Live while you live the sacred preacher cries, 
And give to God each moment as it flies. 
Lord, in my views let both united be, 
I live in pleasure when I live to thee. 

— Doddridge. 



Dean Alfoed wished to have placed on his tombstone the words : 

This is the inn of a traveller 

Or. his way to the Xew Jerusalem, 



DEPARTURE. 

Methought her soul 
Faded in light, even as a glorious stal- 
ls hidden mid the splendors of the morn. 

— Wilson, 



Can that man be dead 
Whose spiritual influence is upon his kind? 
He lives in glory; and his speaking dust 
Has more of life than half its breathing moulds. 

—Miss Lanclon. 



Another hand is beckoning us, 

Another call is given, 
And glows once more with angel-steps 

The path which reaches heaven. 

— Whittier. 



Gently ! 
She is sleeping ; 
She has breathed her last. 
Gently: 
While you are weeping, 
She to heaven has past. 

—C. G. Eastman. 



\ 



82 



GENERAL. 



My little one, my fair one, thou canst not come to me, 

But nearer draws the numbered hour when I shall go to thee ; 
And thou, perchance, with seraph smile and golden harp in hand, 

May'st come the first to welcome me to our Emanuel's land. 

— R. Hide. 



They who die in Christ are blest ; 

Ours be, then, no thought of grieving ! 
Sweetly with their God they rest, 

All their toils and troubles leaving; 
So be ours the faith that saveth, 
Hope that every trial braveth, 
Love that to the end endureth, 
And through Christ the crown secureth. 

— Bishop Doane. 



We weep, though not in bitterness ; 

Ours are not the tears of gloom ; 
No thoughts but those of tenderness 

Shall glisten round his tomb ; 
Xo painful recollections rise ; 

His morn — it dawned so blest. 
And, ere a cloud had dimmed its skies, 

Sweet lamb, he was at rest. 

— Win. Peter. 



Haste, my spirit, fly away ! 

'Tis thy gracious Saviour calls ; 
Leave this tenement of clay, 

Quit its broken, shattered walls; 
Through these ruins I descry 
Gleams of immortality. 
God hath sent his envoy, Death ; 

Earthly blessings I resign; 
Lord, to thee I yield my breath, 

Take this ransomed soul of mine ; 
And my songs of joy shall be 
Ceaseless as eternity. 

— Anonymous. 



When faith is strong, and conscience clear. 
And words of peace the spirit cheer, 
And vision ed glories half appear, 
'Tis joy, 'tis triumph, then, to die ! 

—Mrs. Barbauld 



GEXERAL. 



83 



HEAVEN. 

Go, wing thy flight from star to star, 
From world to luminous world, as far 

As the universe spreads its flaming wall ; 
Take all the pleasures of all the spheres, 
And multiply each through endless years, 

One minute of heaven is worth them all. 

— Moore. 



Tell me, my sacred soul, 

O tell me, Hope and Faith, 
Is there no resting place 

From sorrow, sin, and death? 
Is there no happy spot 

Where mortals may be blest, 
Where grief may find a balm, 
And weariness a rest? 
Faith, Hope, and Love, best boons to mortals given, 
Waved their bright wings, and whispered, 
" Yes, in heaven." 

— Anonymous. 



Though earth has full many a beautiful spot, 

As a poet or painter might show, 
Yet more lovely and beautiful, holy and bright, 
To the hopes of the heart and the spirit's glad sight, 

Is the land that no mortal may know. 
O, who but must pine in this dark vale of tears, 

From its clouds and its shadows to go, 
To walk in the light of the glory above, 
And to share in the peace, and the joy, and the love 

Of the land which no mortal may know ! 

***** 
There the crystalline stream, bursting forth from the throne, 

Flows on, and forever will flow ; 
Its waves as they roll are with melody rife, 
And its waters are sparkling with beauty and life, 

In the land which no mortal may know. 
And there on its margin, with its leaves ever green, 

With its fruits healing sickness and woe, 
The fair tree of life, in its glory and pride, 
Is fed by that deep, inexhaustible tide 

Of the land which no mortal may know. 

— Barton. 



84 



GENERAL. 



CONSOLATION. 

Afflictions clarify the soul. 

—Francis Quarles. 



The greatest virtue of which wise men boast, 
Is to abstain from ill when pleasing most, 

— Shakespeare. 



The bravest trophy ever man obtained 

Is that which o'er himself, himself hath gained. 

—Earl of Stirling. 



Man may trouble and distress me, 

'Twill but drive me to thy breast ; 
Life with trials hard may press me, 

Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. 
O, 'tis not in grief to harm me, 

While thy love is left to me ; 
O, 'twere not in joy to charm me, 

Were that joy unmixed with thee ! 

— Montgomery. 



He is a path, if any be misled ; 

He is a robe, if any naked be ; 
If any chance to hunger, He is bread ; 

If any be a bondman, He is free ; 
If any be but weak, how strong is He ! 
To dead men life He is, to sick men health ; 
To blind men sight, and to the needy wealth ; 
A pleasure without loss, a treasure without stealth. 

—G. Fletcher 



If affliction grasps thee rudely, 

And presents the rack and cup, 
Drink the draught and brave the torture, 

Even in despair look up ! 
Still look up ! For one there liveth 

With the power and w r ill to save — 
One who knows each human sorrow 

From the cradle to the grave. 

—J. L. Chester, 



GENERAL. 



85 



I would not miss one sigh or tear. 

Heart pang or throbbing brow ; 
Sweet was the chastisement severe. 

And sweet its memory now. 
Yes ! let the fragrant scars abide, 

Love tokens in thy stead,. 
Faint shadows of the spear-pierced side 

And thorn-encompassed head. 

— V Lyra Aposlolica. ' 



God live th ever ! 
Wherefore, soul, despair thou never ! 
What though thou tread with bleeding feet 

A thorny path of grief and gloom ; 
Thy God will choose tbe way most meet 
To lead thee heavenward, lead thee home. 
For this life's long night of sadness 
He will give thee pea?e and gladness ; 
Soul, forget not in thy pains 
God o'er all forever reigns. 

—From the German of Z Urn. 



Just such is the Christian ; his course he begins 
Like the sun in a mist, when he ruourns for I is sins. 
And melts into tears ; then he breaks out and shines. 

And travels his heavenly way ; 
But when he comes nearer to finish his race. 
Like a fine setting sun. he looks richer in grace. 
And gives a sure hope, at tbe end of his clays. 

Of rising in brighter array. 



itual for else at tl^e throve. 



The Minister going before the corpse shall say : 

I am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and 
believeth in me shall never die. [Johx xi., 25-26]. 

I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the 
latter day upon the earth ; and though after my skin worms 
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall 
see for mvself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. [Job 
xix., 25-2?]. 

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can 
carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. [I. Tim., yi., 7 : Job i., 21]. 

At the grave, when the corpse is laid in the earth, the Minister shall say : 

Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and 
is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down like a flower; 
he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. 

In the midst of life we are in death : of whom may we seek for 
succor, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins are justly displeased? 

Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and 
most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eter^ 
nal death. 

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy 
merciful ears to our prayers, but spare us, Lord most holy, O God 
most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, thou most worthy 
Judge eternal, suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of death 
to fall from thee. 

Then while the earth shall be cast upon the body by some one standing 
by, the Minister shall say : 

Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise provi- 
dence to take out of the world the soul of the departed, we there- 
fore commit (his) body to the ground ; earth to earth, ashes to 
ashes, dust to dust ; looking for the general Resurrection in the 
last day, and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ; at whose second coming in glorious majesty to judge the 
world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead, and the cor- 

86 



RITUAL. 



>7 



ruptible bodies of those who sleep in Him shall be changed and 
made like unto His own glorious body; according to the might v 
working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. 

Then shall be said : 

I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, From hence- 
forth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord : Even so, saith the 
Spirit, for they rest from their labours. 

Then shall the Minister say : 

Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, 
have mercy upon us. 

The Collect. 

O merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
resurrection and the life: in whom whosoever believeth shall live, 
though he die, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Him shali 
not die eternally : We meekly beseech thee, O Father, to raise us 
from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness ; that when we 
shall depart this life we may rest in him; and at the general res- 
urrection on the last day may be found acceptable in thy sight, 
and receive that blessing which thy well-beloved Son shall then 
pronounce to all that love and fear thee, saying, Come, ye blessed 
children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from 
the beginning of the world. Grant this, we beseech thee, O mer- 
ciful Father, through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer. 
Amen. 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread ; and forgive us our trespasses as 
we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the Kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God. and the 
fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. A men. 



Holy Baptism. 



A. Form of Baptism for Infants. 



The minister baptizing shall cause the child to be brought forward in the name of 
God, and then make the following, or some other suitable address : 

Dearly Beloved : As this child is brought forward to be bap- 
tized, let us consider that, in consequence of the fall of our 
first parents, all men are begotten and conceived in sin. 
Wherefore also our Saviour says, " That which is bom of the 
flesh is flesh; " and hence teaches the indispensable necessity 
of the new birth of water and of the Spirit, of which holy 
baptism is a representation or outward sign. But all infants 
are, through the meritorious obedience and sufferings of 
Christ, redeemed from the curse of the first transgression and 
made heirs of the kingdom of God, and hence are proper sub- 
jects of holy baptism. I entreat you, therefore, to unite with 
me in supplication to Almighty God, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, for this child, that it may not only in water baptism be 
blessed and consecrated to the Lord, but that it may also be 
baptized with the Holy Spirit, and through his influence be 
preserved in the grace of God, and ultimately, as a living 
member of the Church of God, be made a partaker of the 
inheritance of the saints in light. Let us pray. 

Then the baptizing minister shall, while kneeling, pray in the following manner : 

Almighty and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst 
save Noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water, 
and also didst safely lead the children of Israel, thy people, 

88 



HOLY BAPTISM. 



89 



through the Ked Sea, prefiguring thereby holy baptism, and 
finally, by the baptism of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, 
didst sanctify the element of water for this same purpose; O 
merciful God, thou who livest and reignest from everlasting to 
everlasting; thou who didst give unto us thine only begotten 
Son, who shed out of his most precious side both water and 
blood, to cleanse us from sin, and gave commandment to his 
disciples that they should go and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost; regard mercifully, we beseech thee, our supplica- 
tion, and grant unto this child, now to be baptized, thy grace, 
as we bring it before thee by faith, in our prayers; wash, 
purify, sanctify, and so prepare it by the Holy Spirit, that it 
may in future show itself an obedient child. Grant unto this 
child, O God, to become firm in faith, joyful in hope, and 
grounded in love; that the old Adam may be mortified and the 
new man be raised up; that all carnal and sinful propensities 
be rooted out, and new and spiritual desires take place and 
ever increase; that thus it may be enabled to conquer, and to 
reign over the devil, the flesh, and the world. O thou ever- 
blessed God, vouchsafe to give unto this child the fulness of 
thy grace, that it may ever remain in the number of thy faith- 
ful and elect children, and so may pass the waves of this 
troublesome world, that finally it may safely enter the heavenly 
haven, to reign and live with thee in thy glorious kingdom, 
world without end, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Then shall those present rise, and the minister say: 

Hear the words of the Gospel written by St. Mark, in the 
10th chapter, from the 13th to the 16th verse : 

4 4 And they brought young children to him, that he should 
touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought 
them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and 
said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I 
say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them 



90 



HOLY BAPTISM. 



up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." 

— Our Father, etc. 

Then the child is to be named. 

When the preacher is baptizing the child he shall say : 

I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

{The conclusion is to be made by him in a suitable manner, with prayer or with 
pronouncing blessings, as time and circumstances may admit.) 



B. Form of Baptism for Adults. 



The baptizing minister shall address the people in the following manner : 

Dearly Beloved : As all men are conceived and born in sin, 
and Christ says, That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and the 
apostle teaches that to be carnally minded is enmity against 
God; and they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but live 
in sin, committing many actual transgressions; hence Christ 
teaches the indispensable necessity of the new birth, in order 
to salvation, of which baptism is a representation; I desire of 
you, therefore, with me to call upon God the Father, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous goodness he wiP 
grant this person (these persons) that which by nature he 
(they) cannot have; that he (they) may be baptized, not with 
water only, but with the Holy Ghost, and received into Christ's 
Church, and made (a) living member (members) of the same. 
Let us pray. 

Then the preacher, kneeling, shall pray after the following manner : v 
Almighty and eternal God, the aid of all that are in need, 
the helper of all that flee to thee for succor, the life of them 
that believe, and the resurrection of the dead; O Lord, as thou 
hast promised by thy well-beloved Son, saying, "Ask, and ye 
shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be 
opened unto you; " so give now unto us that ask; let us that 
seek, find; open unto us that knock; that this person (these 



HOLY BAPTISM. 91 



persons) may enjoy the everlasting benediction of thy heavenly 
washing, and thus by faith be enabled wholly to overcome 
the world, the flesh, and Satan; that the new man may be 
raised up in him (them); that all carnal affections may be 
mortified in him (them), and that a new and spiritual life may 
more and more become manifest in him (them); and grant 
him (them) such power and strength that he (they) may be 
victorious and triumphant over the devil, the world, and the 
flesh; and that as he is (they are) dedicated to thee by our 
ministry and office, he (they) may also be endowed with heav- 
enly virtues, and be finally, through thy mercy, rewarded with 
everlasting life. O bountiful God, Lord of Hosts, whose most 
dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ, shed out of his most precious 
side both water and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and 
gave commandment to his disciples that they should go and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; regard, we beseech 
thee, our supplications in mercy, and grant that this person 
(these persons) now to be baptized may receive the fulness of 
thy grace, and ever remain in the number of thy faithful and 
elect children, through Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Then shall those present rise, and the baptizing minister shall say: 

Hear the words of the Gospel written by St. John, in the 3d 
chapter, beginning at the 1st verse: 

u There was a man of the Pharisees, named Mcodemus, a 
ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said 
unto him, Kabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from 
God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except 
God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, 
veriiy, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot 
see the kingdom of God. Mcodemus saith unto him, How 
can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second 
time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, 
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water 
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born 



92 



HOLY BAPTISM. 



of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye 
must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born 
of the Spirit." 

Then shall the baptizing minister address those ivho desire to be baptized, on this 
wise : 

Well Beloved : You have come hither, desiring to receive holy 
baptism, and have heard how the congregation has prayed, 
that our Lord Jesus Christ would grant to receive and bless 
you, to save you from sin, and to give you the kingdom of 
heaven and everlasting life. And our Lord Jesus Christ has 
promised in his Holy Word to grant all these things for which 
we have prayed; which promise he, for his part, will most 
surely keep and perform. 

Wherefore, after this promise made by our Lord Jesus 
Christ, you must also faithfully for your part promise in the 
presence of this congregation, that you will renounce the devil 
and all his works, constantly believe God's Holy Word, and 
obediently keep his commandments. 

Then shall the baptizing minister put the following questions to each of the per- 
sons to be baptized: 

Ques. Dost thou believe in God the Father, Almighty Maker 
of heaven and earth ? and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten 
Son, our Lord ? and that he was conceived by the Holy Ghost, 
born of the Virgin Mary ? That he suffered under Pontius 
Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried ? That he rose the third 
day; that he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right 
hand of God the Father Almighty, and from thence shall 
come again, at the end of the world, to judge the quick and 
the dead ? 

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy General 
Church ? the communion of saints ? the remission of sins ? the 
resurrection of the body and everlasting life after death ? 

If thou dost steadfastly believe all this, answer, aloud, 

Yes. 

If thou wilt be baptized in this faith, answer, 
Yes. 



HOLY BAPTISM. 



93 



Ques. Dost tliou renounce the devil and all his works, the 
vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of 
the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt 
not follow or be led by them ? If thou renouncest them all, 
aoswer, aloud, 

Yes. 

Ques. Wilt thou then obediently keep God's holy will and 
commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life ? 
If thou wilt so do, answer, aloud, 

Yes, by the help of God. 

After these questions have been severally put to each of those to be baptized, and 
answered by each, the baptizing preacher shall pray as follows: 

0 merciful God, grant unto this person (these persons) now 
to be baptized in thy name, the grace and the blessings of thy 
Holy Spirit, according to thy promise in Christ Jesus, thy well 
beloved Son, to give the Holy Spirit to all who ask thee. 
Thou who hast most graciously declared: " Then will I 
sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean; from 
all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in 
my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them;" 
O thou God of love, grant that this person (these persons) may 
also be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and wholly dedicated to 
thee, and so endowed with strength divine as to be able faith- 
fully to perform his (her) (their) solemn promise made in the 
presence of this congregation, to wit : to have the victory over 
the devil, the world, and the flesh ; to remain steadfast by a 
living faith in thy name, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost : and at 
last, with the innumerable company of thine elect, be tri- 
umphantly saved. Amen. — Our Father, etc. 

Then shall the baptizing minister take each person to be baptized by the right 
hand, and placing Mm conveniently by the water, according to h is discretion, he 
shall ask his name, and then sprinkle or pour water upon him, or, if he should de- 
sire it, immerse him in water, saying : 

1 baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Then shall he conclude in a suitable manner with prayer or benediction, as time 
and circumstances may admit. 



Form for the Administration of 
the Lord's Supper. 



When the Lord's Supper is to be administered, there shall be 
a preparatory discourse and exhortation delivered, to invite 
self-examination, according to the words of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 

xi. 23-29, The Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was be- 
trayed, took bread, etc. 

Then shall the preacher. in his name and in the name of all those icho are to 
receive the holy communion, all humbly kneeling, make a confession as follows, 

saying : 

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of 
all things and Judge of all men, who of thy tender mercy didst 
give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross 
for our redemption; who made there, by his oblation of himself 
once offered, a perfect and all-sufficient sacrifice and complete 
satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and did institute 
and command us to continue, a perpetual memorial of his 
suffering and death, until his coming again; which we now 
intend to celebrate in memory of his sacrificial death; O merci- 
ful Father, grant us grace, that we may be enabled to partake 
thereof in true faith. We do not presume to approach this thy 
table trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold 
and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up 
the crumbs under thy table; for we have provoked thy just 
wrath and indignation against us, by our manifold sins and 
transgressions, which we have committed by thought, word, 
and deed, against thy holy Majesty; but thou art yet the same 
God, who is disposed to have mercy. Of thy great mercy, thou 
94 



ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 95 



hast promised forgiveness of sins to all them who, with hearty- 
repentance and true faith, turn to thee. Unto thee all our 
desires are known, and from thee no secrets are hid; have 
mercy on us, have mercy on us, most merciful Father, for thy 
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and let all our transgressions 
be cast behind thee into the sea of forgetfulness, and never 
more come into the light of thy countenance, and cleanse thou 
the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy 
Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify 
thy holy name. 

Yea, it is our duty, at all times and in all places, to give 
thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty God! 
Therefore we would with the angels and all the heavenly hosts 
say: Holy, holy, holy, Lord G-od of Hosts, heaven and earth are 
full of thy glory! Glory be to thee, thou Most High and God 
of Mercy! Listen to our supplication, Almighty God, we 
humbly beseech thee, and grant us grace, thou God of all 
Mercy, that we, receiving these thy gifts of bread and wine, 
according to the institution of thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus 
Christ, in remembrance of his suffering and death, may also 
really partake of his most blessed body and blood, that our 
souls and bodies may be made clean by the virtue of his death, 
and washed by his most precious blood, and that he may ever- 
more dwell in us, and we in him! Amen. — Our Father, etc. 

After this the minister shall first receive the communion in both kinds himself, 
bread and wine, and then proceed to deliver the same to the other ministers, if any 
be present, and after that to the others that are present, in proper order, into their 
hands ; and in delivering the bread, he shall say : 

Eat the bread, which we break, in remembrance that Christ 
gave his body for thee, and died the bitter death of the cross 
on Calvary, that thou may est live forever; feed on him in thy 
heart by faith, and be thankful. 

And the minister, delivering the cup, shall say : 

Drink of this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed 
for thee, for the washing away of all thy sins, and the sanctifi- 



96 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, 



cation of thy soul ; partake of it in thy heart by faith, and be 
thankful. 

Then prayer shall be made after the following manner: 

O Lord and heavenly Father, we thy servants desire thy 
fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of 
praise and thanksgiving, most humbly beseeching thee to grant 
that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and 
through faith in his blood, we and thy whole Church may 
obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his pas- 
sion. And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our- 
selves, our bodies and souls, to be a reasonable, holy and living 
sacrifice unto thee : humbly beseeching thee that all of us who 
have partaken of this holy communion, may be filled with 
divine grace and heavenly blessings. And although we are 
unworthy, on account of our manifold sins, to offer unto thee 
any sacrifice; yet we beseech thee to accept this our duty and 
service, not considering our deserts, but pardoning our offences, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and through whom, 
in the unity of the Holy Ghost, be unto thee, O Almighty 
Father, all honor and glory, now, henceforth, and forever- 
more. Amen. 



Form of the Solemnization of 



Matrimony. 



At the day and time appointed for the solemnization of Matrimony , the persons to 
be married step forth, and standing before the minister, the bride on the left hand 
.of the bridegroom, the minister shall address those assembled and the couple, to be 
married, in the following manner : 

Dearly Beloved : You are assembled here in the sight of God 
with me, as witnesses, to join together both these persons as 
man and wife, in holy matrimony. Matrimony is an honorable 
state, instituted by God himself, in the time of man's inno- 
cency, and is commended by St. Paul to be honorable among 
all men; and is therefore not by any to be undertaken unad- 
visedly, but with due consideration in the fear of God. 

Since these two persons present have resolved now to be 
joined in matrimony: therefore, if any can show just cause 
why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them now 
rise and speak, or else hereafter forever hold their peace. 

And turning unto the persons that are to be married, he shall address them as 
follows : 

I require and charge you both, as you will have to answer at 
the judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, 
that if either of you know of any impediment why you may not 
be lawfully joined together in matrimony, you do now con- 
fess it. 

If no impediment be alleged, then shall the minister say unto the man : 

[X.] Wilt thou hive (X. X.) to be thy wedded wife, to live 
together after God's ordinance, in the holy state of matrimony? 
Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in days of 

97 



98 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY. 



good and evil report, poor or rich, in sickness and in health; 
and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long till 
death shall separate you? 

If thou wilt do so, then answer, 

Yes. 

Then shall the minister say unto the woman : 

[N.] Wilt thou have (N. N. ) to be thy wedded husband, to 
live together, after God's ordinance, in the holy state of matri- 
mony? Wilt thou obey him, love, honor, and keep him, in 
days of good and evil report, poor or rich, in sickness and in 
health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so 
long till death shall separate you? 

If thou wilt do so, then answer, 

Yes. 

If the parties desire it, the man shall here hand a ring to the minister, who shall 
return it to him, and direct him to place it on the third finger of the woman^s left 
hand. And the man shall say to the woman , repeating after the minister : 

With this ring I thee wed, and with my worldly goods I thee 
endow, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Then shall the minister join their right hands together, and say : 

Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put 
asunder. 

Forasmuch as [N] and [N] have consented to live together in 
holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God, and in 
the presence of all these witnesses, and thereto have pledged 
their faith either to the other, and have declared the same by 
joining hands, I pronounce that they are husband and wife 
together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Then says the minister : 
Let us pray. 

O eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all mankind, Giver 
of all spiritual grace, the Author of everlasting life; send thy 
blessings upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY. 



09 



whom we bless in thy name; that as Isaac and Rebecca lived 
faithfully together, so these persons may sincerely perform 
and keep the vow and covenant made between them, and may 
ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live ac- 
cording to thy laws, through Jesus Christ. Amen. 

A fter this some statable verses may be sung. 

Then let the minister conclude with the following benediction : 

The Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless, pre- 
serve and keep you; pour upon you the riches of his grace to 
such a degree, that ye may please him both in body and soul, 
and live together in holy love unto the end of your lives. 
Amen. 



i 



Short Marriage Service. 



Standing in front of the persons to be married, the preacher shall say : 

Will you promise each other, before God and these witnesses, 
to live together after God's ordinance, in the holy estate of 
matrimony, to love and keep each other in health and sickness, 
and forsaking all others, keep yourselves each to the other so 
long as ye both shall live? If this you promise, you will join 
your right hands. 

Forasmuch as you have thus pledged yourselves before God 
and these witnesses, by virtue of the authority vested in me as 
a minister of the gospel, I pronounce you lawfully married, 
husband and wife; and what God hath joined together, let not 
nnn put asunder. 

Let us pray. 



100 



Reception of New Members. 



When persons are to be received into the church, let the 
preacher read the Covenant or General Rules of the church 
and, if time will permit, explain and enforce them, so that all 
may be informed as to the significance and importance of 
entrance into church fellowship. Then those who are to be 
received shall be invited to come forward and present them- 
selves before the preacher, who shall proceed to examine them 
as follows: — 

Are you fully determined to renounce every sin, and to seek 
redemption in Christ, and in observing our General Rules, to 
live according to the Word of God, and to continue steadfast 
in godliness until death ? Are you determined, by the grace 
of God, to do so ? Answer, aloud, yes. 

Have you also received Christian Baptism ? If not, are you 
willing to be baptized ? 

Are you willing to support the Gospel according to your 
means ? 

If these questions are answered satisfactorily, let the preacher give 
them the right hand of fellowship unless objections are raised. The 
services should conclude with prayer. 



101 



NAME. 


AGE. 


DATE. 


REMARKS. 


1 






i 



NAME. 


AGE. 


DATE. 


REMARKS. 




1 







NAME. 


AGE. 


DATE. 


REMARKS. 











NAME. AGE. DATE, REMARKS. 



NAME. 


AGE. 


DATE. 


REMARKS. 




i 







NAME. I AGE. DATE. REMARKS. 



NAME. 



AGE. 



DATE. 



REMARKS. 



INDEX. 



SCRIPTURE READINGS . . " 3 

Funeral Service 3 

" 5 

7 

" " 9 

Funeral of a Christian 11 

ARRANGED BIBLE READINGS 24 

Funeral of a Christian 24 

" " an Aged Christian . 27 

" " a Child . . - . . . . . . . 29 

General Occasions 33 

Selected Readings ............ 39 

Comfort for the Sorrowing 41 

Afflictions Sanctified . 45 

" Unsanctified 47 

Support Under Afflictions 48 

SELECTIONS FROM THE POETS 51 

For Children 51 

General 59 

Departure 81 

Heaven 83 

Consolation 84 

IjtlTUAL 86 

For the Burial of the Dead 86 

Holy Baptism, Infants 88 

" . " Adults 90 

Administration of the Lord's Supper 94 

Solemnization of Matrimony 97 

Short Marriage Service . . . . . . . . . • 100 

Reception of New Members . . . . . . . 101 

Record of Funerals 102 



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